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Economy in Brief
Japan's Inflation Shows Mixed Gains
Japan's inflation rose by 0.4% in July...
U.S. Existing Home Sales Continue to Fall in July
Existing home sales declined 5.9% (-20.2% y/y) in July to 4.810 million units...
U.S. Index of Leading Indicators Fell Again in July
The Conference Board's Composite Leading Economic Indicators Index fell 0.4% m/m...
U.S. Philly Fed General Activity Index Back to Positive Reading in August
The current general activity diffusion index rose nearly 19 points in August to 6.2...
U.S. Unemployment Claims Slightly Lower
Initial claims for unemployment insurance went down 2,000 in the week ended August 13 to 250,000...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Tom Moeller October 14, 2005
US retail sales rose 0.2% last month following a 1.9% August drop that was slightly shallower than initially reported. Consensus expectations had been for a 0.4% increase. Less autos, however, retail sales beat expectations for a 0.7% gain and increased 1.1% after an unrevised 1.0% August rise.
Sales at gasoline service stations surged 4.0%, about the same pace as during the prior three months, as the retail price of gasoline rose 16.8% m/m to an average $2.90 per gallon. So far in October gas prices have averaged $2.88.
Less gasoline, nonauto retail sales rose the same 0.6% (6.7% y/y) as in August. The increase was boosted by a 1.0% (8.6% y/y) jump in building material sales which followed a 0.7% August rise.
Sales at furniture & electronics stores jumped 1.0% (7.2% y/y) after an upwardly revised 0.8% August increase. Sales of nonstore retailers (internet & catalogue) added 0.2% (11.1% y/y) to the prior month's 2.9% pop and general merchandise store sales rose 0.9% (6.8% y/y). Apparel store sales lagged the pace and fell 0.2% (+5.7% y/y).
Oil Prices and Consumer Spending from the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond is available here.
Sept | Aug | Y/Y | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Retail Sales & Food Services | 0.2% | -1.9% | 6.5% | 7.3% | 4.3% | 2.5% |
Excluding Autos | 1.1% | 1.0% | 9.6% | 8.3% | 4.7% | 3.3% |