Recent Updates
- Israel: Average Housing Prices (Q2)
- Japan: NCI Economic Activity Index (Aug)
- US: NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (Aug)
- Canada: Wholesale trade, MSIO (June)
- Pakistan: Foreign Currency Deposits and Utilization (JUL)
- more updates...
Economy in Brief
U.S. Housing Affordability Declines Further in June
The NAR Fixed Rate Mortgage Housing Affordability Index fell 3.6% in June...
EMU Output Makes Solid Gain in June
The European Monetary Union posted a 0.7% increase for industrial output in June...
U.S. Producer Prices Fall During July; Core Increase Weakens
The Producer Price Index for Final Demand fell 0.5% during July...
U.S. Unemployment Claims Continue on an Uptrend
Initial claims for unemployment insurance filed in the week ended August 6 rose 14,000 to 262,000...
RICS Survey Points to More U.K. Housing Sector Weakness
The survey of housing market conditions in the U.K. continues to show strength in prices versus weakness...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Robert Brusca October 11, 2007
While auto sales have revived in August, the rest of retail sales remain lethargic.In real terms retail sales excluding auto sales fell by 1.6% in August. For the third quarter, sales are off to a weak start as nominal retail sales excluding autos are off at a 0.9% rate; real retail sales excluding autos are off at a 1% annual rate. Food and tobacco plus clothing and footwear categories are off sharply in the new quarter as well. But auto and parts sales are up at a strong 25% annual rate. Since The German VAT was hiked in January retail sales are still hampered.
| German Real and Nominal Retail Sales | New QTR | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominal | Aug-07 | Jul-07 | Jun-07 | 3-MO | 6-MO | 12-MO | YrAgo | SAAR |
| Retail Ex auto | -1.4% | 0.7% | 1.4% | 3.0% | -0.9% | -2.1% | 7.0% | -0.9% |
| MV and Parts | 3.6% | 0.9% | 0.0% | 19.1% | 26.3% | -0.4% | 17.5% | 25.6% |
| Food Bev & Tobacco | -1.2% | -0.1% | 0.8% | -1.8% | -1.8% | -1.3% | 5.1% | -5.4% |
| Clothing footwear | -0.2% | 0.2% | 5.5% | 23.8% | -1.9% | -3.4% | 11.8% | -3.8% |
| Real | ||||||||
| Retail Ex auto | -1.6% | 0.7% | 1.4% | 2.3% | -1.3% | -3.0% | 6.5% | -1.0% |
