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U.S. NEWS A7
Saturday 14 November 2015
US Financial Front:
Retail sales crawl upward in October, led by online shopping
JOSH BOAK across all merchandise Shoppers check out at a Wal-Mart Supercenter store in Springdale, Ark. The Commerce De-
AP Economics Writer categories. That followed
WASHINGTON (AP) — a warning from Macy’s on partment on Friday, Nov. 13, 2015, says retail sales rose a seasonally adjusted 0.1 percent last
Americans ramped up Wednesday, which said it
their online shopping and was sitting on excessive in- month, after being unchanged in September. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston)
restaurant spending in ventories.
October, but barely-there “What is worrying about been stronger than indi- Still, not all of the retail- cent increase from a year
inflation kept overall retail the report is the combina- cated by the retail sales re- related hiring will appear ago, according to Auto-
sales growth muted. tion of soft sales in Sep- port, said Ian Shepherdson, at stores and showrooms. data Corp. Ford projects
The Commerce Depart- tember and October with chief economist at Panthe- Online retail giant Ama- overall auto sales of 17.4
ment said Friday that re- retailer’s guidance that this on Macroeconomics. zon announced plans last million for the entire year,
tail sales rose a seasonally holiday season will be on The weak earnings for tra- month to hire 100,000 sea- besting the record of 17.35
adjusted 0.1 percent last the slower side,” said Brick- ditional retailers contrast sonal workers, a massive million achieved in 2001.
month, after being un- lin Dwyer, an analyst at the sharply with expectations 20 percent jump from last Economists watch the re-
changed in September bank BNP Paribas. ahead of Black Friday. year that reflects how inter- tail sales report closely be-
and August. Over the past Online purchases climbed Holiday spending is pro- net shopping is also chang- cause it provides the first
12 months, sales have risen 1.4 percent in October. jected to jump 3.7 percent ing the transportation and indication each month of
1.7 percent. Lower gaso- Spending at restaurants this year to $630.5 billion, a warehousing sector. the willingness of Ameri-
line costs and meager in- and bars improved 0.5 per- gain that would be above The auto sector appears to cans to spend. Consumer
flation have downplayed cent. Furnishers, building the 10-year average in remain solid even with the spending drives 70 percent
the extent of consumer material sellers, sporting holiday sales growth of 2.5 decline in sales document- of the economy. Yet re-
spending, as the retail sales goods outlets and depart- percent, according to the ed by the government last tail sales account for only
report is not adjusted for ment stores also notched National Retail Federation. month. about one-third of spend-
price changes. gains. Clothiers hired 19,500 work- Private industry reports ing, with services such as
The U.S. economy has in- But gas station store sales ers in October ahead of show that car and truck haircuts and Internet ac-
creasingly relied on con- tumbled 0.9 percent in Oc- the shopping rush, the gov- purchases totaled 1.5 mil- cess making up the other
sumers to propel growth. tober and have dropped ernment said last week. lion in October, a 14 per- two-thirds.q
Consumer spending has 20.1 percent over the past
been crucial for offset- 12 months. Spending at
ting the drags caused by auto dealers fell 0.5 per-
a global economic slow- cent last month, although
down and cheaper oil sales have climbed 6.7
prices and a stronger dol- percent from a year ago.
lar hurting U.S. manufac- Costs for companies
turers. The October report dropped in October, a
suggests that some retail- downward pull on prices
ers had been expecting for consumers, the Labor
a busyholiday season, as Department said in a sepa-
one of the most critical rate report Friday. Produc-
drivers of retail sales growth er prices fell 0.4 percent
— auto dealers — saw last month alone. Core
sales slip last month. prices, which exclude vola-
But retail earnings that ar- tile food and energy costs,
rived this week have been have risen a mere 0.1 per-
far from robust. Nord- cent over the past year.
strom cut its guidance for The lower prices mean that
the year due to soft sales sales have in many cases
