NEW YORK — Wall Street slogged through an uneven session yesterday as investors grappled with troubling spending patterns by consumers, slower growth in manufacturing and Hurricane Katrina's damage.

Investors saw a disturbing trend in the Commerce Department's consumer income and spending report. While consumer spending rose by a solid 1 percent in July, incomes rose just 0.3 percent. People spent more than they earned for just the second time in 46 years, and the nation's savings rate fell to the lowest level ever recorded.

The Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index dropped to 53.6 in August from 56.6 the previous month.

The Labor Department said first-time jobless claims rose to a seven-week high of 320,000 last week, up 3,000 from the previous week. Unemployment claims are expected to rise significantly withlayoffs spurred by Katrina.

Yet the market's losses were minimal, and volume was extremely heavy for a market still struggling through summer doldrums — a sign that investors were still willing to buy stocks, even if they didn't quite know where to put their money, as reflected in volatile prices.

Consolidated volume on the Big Board came to 2.28 billion shares, compared with 2.43 billion traded at the same point on Wednesday. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by nearly 5 to 3.

Crude oil futures rose again, with a barrel of light crude settling at $69.47 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Bonds fell slightly. The dollar fell against most major currencies, while gold prices rose.