Some good news!

[SEC=UGA]

Reuters) - Retail sales grew at their fastest pace in seven months in September as consumers shook off concerns about a weak stock market and political gridlock, giving a bit more momentum to the economic recovery.

 

Sales rose 1.1 percent from a month earlier, boosted by strong auto purchases, the Commerce Department said on Friday.

 

The reading beat the median forecast in a Reuters poll for a 0.7 percent rise. Sales growth during August was revised upward to 0.3 percent.

 

Consumer spending accounts for about two thirds of U.S. economic activity, and the data suggests growth at the end of the July-September period might have been stronger than previously thought.

 

"It looks like third-quarter GDP is going to be better than the first and second quarter combined," said John Canally, an investment strategist and economist for LPL Financial in Boston.

 

The economy grew at less than a 1 percent annual rate over the first half of the year.

 

Sales of motor vehicles and parts rose 3.6 percent, the biggest gain since March 2010. That increase -- along with higher sales of furniture, gasoline and electronics -- made up for lower grocery store and building material receipts. Spending at restaurants and bars also rose.

 

U.S. economic growth in the first half of the year was hit by a spike in gasoline prices and a March earthquake catastrophe in Japan that clogged up global supply conduits and hurt auto output.

 

But even excluding autos, sales increased 0.6 percent in September, above forecasts for a 0.3 percent gain.

 

U.S. stock futures gained after the data, while prices for U.S. government debt fell.

 

CONSUMER RESOLVE

 

Consumer confidence rebounded modestly in September after dipping in early August to its lowest in more than three decades.

 

Confidence sank deeply over the summer when a bruising battle over the U.S. budget slammed stock prices and pushed the nation to the brink of default. Even with September's modest improvement, Americans were still more worried about the economy's outlook than at any point since 1980.

 

Stripping out sales of gasoline, autos and building materials, so-called core retail sales rose 0.6 percent in September.

 

Excluding the 1.2 percent rise in gasoline sales, retail sales were 1.1 percent.

 

U.S. import prices unexpectedly rose in September to post their largest gain in five months on higher fuel and food costs, according to a separate government report on Friday that pointed to some build-up in imported inflation pressure.

 

The Federal Reserve has been more concerned about the tepid pace of the economic recovery than inflation pressures, and has said it stands ready to help the economy more if needed. It has already cut overnight lending rates to near zero and pumped about $2.3 trillion into the banking system.

 

I know that I've bought a little bit more lately. New clothes for the baby, some stuff for the hound dog, a few things for the wife and some stuff for myself. Business is staying flat, but sometimes you just gotta go out and buy sh!t, I think people have finally gotten to that point. We'll see how it goes.

[matt770]

I'm buying sh!tloads of trees and shrubs and telling my wife she can't have an iPad.

[SEC=UGA]

I'm buying sh!tloads of trees and shrubs and telling my wife she can't have an iPad.

 

You should have seen the look on my wife's face when she asked for some money for a new outfit and I told her to wait a couple weeks as I just dropped $350 on two router bits.

[tosberg34]

I'm buying sh!tloads of trees and shrubs and telling my wife she can't have an iPad.

 

I wasn't able to hold my wife at bay, so I caved in and DID just buy her an IPad - but i got to buy two new PCs in that deal. Also had glass block windows installed in my basement as well as a new roof.

 

Just doing what I can to help out the economy too.

Edited October 14, 2011 by tosberg34

[matt770]

You should have seen the look on my wife's face when she asked for some money for a new outfit and I told her to wait a couple weeks as I just dropped $350 on two router bits.

You can build so much stuff with router bits...real, tangible things like a shed or a bookcase that your family could potentially use and enjoy for generations. A new outfit will be worn a few times and then will sit in the back of the closet for a year, then given away to people too lazy to work. I don't see any issue here.