Retail sales rose more than projected in October as Americans snapped up Apple Inc. (AAPL) iPhones and demand for automobiles improved, giving the worldâs largest economy a boost entering the final quarter of 2011. The 0.5 percent gain followed a 1.1 percent increase for September, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. The median forecast of 81 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was a rise of 0.3 percent. Purchases of electronics jumped by the most in two years. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-...-more-than-forecast-on-electronics-autos.html Retail sales beating forecasts. Haven´t read that headline for a long time.
Woo hoo! Wonder how much sales tax revenues are up? And last but not least, retail should be up, we have inflation.
It isn't a government forecast... And in any case, the fact that the number beat the forecast isn't the important part. The important part is that it went up.
that's not exactly true. If you look at the non-adjusted core sales without food and energy, in September, they dropped 5.32%, and by comparison, in Sept. 2010, they only dropped 4.699%. Now, from the most current report, the above figure gained 2.395% after that 5.32% from Sept. And once again, by comparing Oct. 2010, it gained 3.568%. So in a table: Sept. 2010 -4.699% Oct. 2010 3.568% Sept. 2011 -5.32% Oct. 2011 +2.395% In short, they dropped more in Sep. 2011 than Sep. of last year, but they gained back LESS in Oct. 2011 than Oct. 2010. As such, Q4 of 2011 is weaker than Q4 of 2010 in core spending. see the 2nd chart from the top on this link: http://econometricsanalysis.wordpress.com/analysis/ And for a break down, click the table on the left of this link: http://econometricsanalysis.wordpress.com/us-sales-reports/sales-2011/october-2011/