The pace of sales at U.S. retailers was unchanged in September from August as rising prices for rent and food chipped away at money available for other things.
Customers debate a television selection at Best Buy, Nov. 26, 2021, in Indianapolis. The pace of sales at U.S. retailers was unchanged in September 2022 from August as rising prices for rent and food chipped away at money available for other things. Retail sales were flat last month, down from a revised 0.4% growth in August.
While the report showed the resilience of the American consumer, the figures are not adjusted for inflation unlike many other government reports. In fact, sales at grocery stores rose 0.4%, helped by rising prices in food.Evidence that the Fed’s fight to cool the economy may be taking hold can also be seen, particularly with big-ticket items. Sales at auto dealers fell 0.
Consumer spending accounts for nearly 70% of U.S. economic activity and Americans have remained mostly resilient even with inflation near four-decade highs. Yet surging prices for everything from mortgages to rent have upped the anxiety level. Overall spending has slowed and shifted increasingly toward necessities like food, while spending on electronics, furniture, new clothes and other non-necessities has faded.
Consumer prices, excluding volatile food and energy costs, jumped 6.6% in September from a year ago — the fastest such pace in four decades. And on a month-to-month basis, core prices surged 0.6% for a second straight time, defying expectations for a slowdown and signaling that the Fed’s multiple rate hikes have yet to ease inflation pressures. Core prices typically provide a better picture of underlying price trends.
Conn’s HomePlus, a Texas furniture and mattress chain that caters to households at the lower end of the economic scale, launched a new layaway program that caters to the 20% to 25% of the chain’s applicants not eligible to qualify for other financing.
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