Sales
at most types of retailers, from electronics stores to restaurants, climbed in
September, indicating households were sustaining the U.S. economic expansion
before the government shutdown shook confidence.
Purchases
excluding auto dealers rose 0.4 percent following a 0.1 percent gain the prior
month, matching the median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg,
Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. Total sales dropped 0.1
percent because car purchases over the Labor Day holiday weekend were counted
in the figures for August.
Americans
snapped up the newest mobile phones and video games in October, buoyed by low
borrowing costs and rising household wealth backed by improving home and stock
prices. Another report today showed consumer confidence sank this month by the
most in two years on concern the world’s largest economy will be set back by
the fiscal gridlock in Washington.
The
Conference Board’s consumer confidence index slumped to 71.2 in October, a
six-month low and weaker than the median forecast of economists surveyed by
Bloomberg, the New York-based private research group’s data showed today. The
9-point drop from September’s revised 80.2 was the biggest slump since August
2011, when a prior political standoff over the budget prompted Standard &
Poor’s to cut the country’s debt rating.
(Source: Bloomberg)
