From the Associated Press:
Consumers spent less on autos, clothing and furniture to leave retail sales unchanged in August.
The lack of growth suggests households became more cautious during wild stock market fluctuations and increased fears about the economy.
The Commerce Department also said Wednesday that retail sales were slightly weaker in July than first thought. They rose just 0.3 percent, down from the initial reading of 0.5 percent.
Auto sales fell 0.3 percent in August. Sales at clothing stores declined 0.7 percent. Gasoline sales rose.
Analysts said Hurricane Irene likely disrupted sales in late August along most of the East Coast.
Stocks were trading higher when the market opened but fell later on in morning trading. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped more than 60 points.
Consumer spending is important because it accounts for 70 percent of U.S. economic activity.
The overall economy expanded at an annual rate of just 0.7 percent in the first six months of this year, the slowest growth since the recession ended two years ago. Employers added no net jobs in August, and the unemployment rate stayed at 9.1 percent.
Read the whole thing here. Again, making the weather the fall guy. That doesn’t likely stack up; in the run-up to the hurricane, consumers stocked up on water, food, batteries, generators, etc. At most, the hurricane shifted spending from certain categories to others. The August number is important, because it contains the critical “back-to-school” shopping boost. It bodes ill for the holiday shopping season.
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