CINCINNATI - Shoppers around the globe are cutting down on optional purchases like fine fragrances and turning to cheaper store brands for everyday items like toilet paper, sapping sales for consumer stalwarts like Procter & Gamble, Colgate-Palmolive and Kellogg.

P&G reported a drop in quarterly profit Thursday - nearly 4 percent - for the first time in eight years, and the world's largest maker of consumer products forecast that its full-year sales would fall as well.

Kellogg Co., the maker of cereal and snacks, said sales were off 3 percent, but its profit climbed 2 percent behind cost cutting. And while P&G rival Colgate-Palmolive Co. saw first-quarter profits up 9 percent on higher prices and cost cuts, revenue was down 6 percent.

Even grocery-store operator Safeway Inc., which has seen sales of its store brands remain strong as consumers keep spending down, lowered its full-year outlook after Thursday's first-quarter report showed revenue down 8 percent and profits down 25 percent.

The results showed that even with the stock market rallying over the past two months, consumers are still nervous about the economy and are watching their spending. Overall, U.S. consumer spending fell for the first time in three months and income growth slipped for a second straight month, the Commerce Department said Thursday.

"Even consumer staples companies aren't immune," said Bill Pecoriello, an analyst who heads ConsumerEdge Research LLC. "They may be less impacted than what you see in the auto industry, but they aren't immune."

Many economists have said consumers may not really resume spending until they see some improvement in the job market. That is still a concern, as the number of people continuing to draw unemployment benefits jumped to more than 6.27 million - the highest on records dating back to 1967.

Shares of Kellogg, which reported good cereal sales in North America, rose 7 percent Thursday, but P&G, Colgate-Palmolive and Safeway all were down.

Pecoriello said the companies' varied profit results were affected by their geographic exposure to foreign exchange issues - the stronger U.S. currency means revenue from international operations translates to fewer dollars - and the kinds of products they sell most.

Colgate's tooth care products are less vulnerable to store-brand competition than P&G's Charmin toilet paper or Pampers diapers, for example. He said future results will be tied to overall economic conditions.

"That's really a question of how the long the consumer is going to be hurting," he said.