Follow up look at retail sales – trends are favorable

Retail sales last month grew a solid 0.6%, which comes on top of upward revisions to both July and August.  Ex-autos, sales were up a respectable 0.4% last month.  And if the sometimes volatile gasoline station category is removed, which takes into account swings in gasoline prices, so-called core sales also increased 0.4%.

Despite falling payrolls over the last four months and consumer sentiment that is hovering near levels seen at the start of the recovery, spending at the nation’s retailers continues to improve.


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Sales and sale ex-autos are now up for the third-straight month, while core sales extended its winning streak to four months.


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Both charts highlight that economic activity is improving, albeit at a modest pace.

The first chart, which does a better job of illustrating the trend, reveals that the upward drift is slowly accelerating.