Posted on 12/13/2007 7:31:25 AM PST by shrinkermd
U.S. retail sales surged during November, making a surprisingly strong, broad-based climb that suggests the economy might not be as weak as feared.
Meanwhile, U.S. wholesale prices soared last month at their fastest pace since the Nixon Administration, spurred by record gains in energy prices. In a worrisome sign for Federal Reserve officials, price pressures appeared to seep beyond just energy and risk becoming embedded deeper in the production pipeline.
Retail sales increased by 1.2%, the Commerce Department said Thursday. Sales went up an unrevised 0.2% in October.
The median estimate of 10 economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires was a 0.6% advance in November. Analysts have been expecting consumer spending -- and the economy as a whole -- to slow sharply in the final months of 2007 compared to the third quarter because of falling home prices and rising energy costs.
The retail sales report illustrates where Americans are spending their money. Consumer spending is a big part of the economy. It makes up about 70% of gross domestic product, which is the scoreboard for the economy.
The Commerce report showed automobile and parts sales decreased by 1.0% in November. October sales fell 0.6%. Sales of all other retailers excluding auto and parts dealers surged in November by 1.8%; economists expected a 0.7% increase. The 1.8% gain was the largest since 2.9% in January 2006. Ex-auto sales in October had gone 0.4% higher, revised from a previously estimated 0.2% increase.
November gasoline-station sales increased by 6.8%, likely boosted by higher prices at the pump. The gain was the biggest since 7.1% in September 2005. Gas sales rose 3.1% in October. Stripping away sales at gas stations, demand at all other retailers increased 0.6% in November.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
The economy is always better than the “experts” think when a republican is in office. There never a hint of a poor economy when a dem is in.
But...but...Brian Williams told me the bottom had fallen out of the economy! We're NOT doomed?
My step-mother is a realtor
She’s had her best year ever.
When I closed on a house this summer, the Title Co said they were swamped with closings.
House prices finally got back down where they shoulda been.
Nah, we’re all depressed and need to spend money to get happy. ;)’cause we know the economy is really bad.
It's beautiful how the free enterprise market corrects itself. Now people who have been working hard and saving to buy a home through traditional financing are able to do so with lower home prices that were out of this world just a year ago.
My wife asked why I was buying so much stuff, I told her I was doing my part to help out the sagging economy. It looks like it worked :-)
Shudda whacked 1/2.
From your statement, if raw materials costs rose 8.7% and those costs were reflected in whatever products to be only half that at retail, then that would be 4.35% in cost increases, not 1.2%. A true increase in spending would be then 6.55%.....Not happening.
Therefore, IMHO, sales are weaker than those of last year. Are those retail sales numbers simply gross dollars? I bet.
Smoke and mirrors.
Prices of raw materials rose 8.7%; excluding food and energy they fell 0.5%
You can’t take the 8.7 and use it without reading the remaining protion of the statement.
My wife has been in retail, same retailer as a matter of fact for 20 years, and they are extremely slow for this time of year.
Food has little impact of the volume of retail sales other than it has increased significantly affecting many household incomes / frivolous spending. You can't exclude the costs of energy in the acquisition / transport of raw materials and manufacture / transport of finished goods. Housing construction materials is the only area where prices have dropped some in 'raw materials' due to the housing bust.
I say again....smoke and mirrors.
Thank you. Here in RTP, the shelves are showing plenty of items to be bought compared to 7-9 years ago at this time of year.
Not sure about this report. I realize that what I see is nothing compared to the nation as a whole but during my shopping over the last week or so the stores have been empty. It has been strange to see clerks standing around talking to each other as the stores are empty. Could be just me.
The usual estimate of labor vs materials is 80/20; this might influence some of your concerns. Also note that if you take out food and energy inflation declined by .5%.
It must be...I went to 2 malls in the Atlanta area (once about a month or so ago and again today) couldn’t find anywhere to park, from noon to about 3. Then, about 30 miles east where I live Wal-Mart was the same way (also today). Jammed.
BUT, 2-3 weeks ago, I was in a different mall and it was as if I was in that new movie coming out tomorrow with Will Smith (I am Legend), it was like I was the only one in there.
My wife and mother in law said it was so so a little while later, on the weekend after Thanksgiving.
So it could be time of day and location. And some places are just nicer than others, easier to get in and out of, etc.
I’ve also been shopping (both holiday and non-holiday) on-line alot lately.
Maybe these morons will finally realize that fewer than 2% of households are having trouble with their mortgages, and that is a drop in the bucket in the larger economy. My home’s value may have fallen; I really don’t know and I don’t care. I am not leveraged to the hilt so it doesn’t matter. Most people aren’t. It isn’t affecting our spending decisions this year at all.
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