By Jeffry Bartash, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Americans ratcheted up their spending for the second straight month in September, buying everything from back-to-school supplies to new autos to the latest version of the iPhone.
Retail spending rose a seasonally adjusted 1.1% in September and sales were revised somewhat higher for August and July, the Commerce Department said Monday. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch forecast a 0.9% increase.
The higher level of spending suggests third-quarter growth could end up stronger than economists were expecting. The U.S. likely expanded by a 1.6%, according to the most recent MarketWatch forecast.
Auto sales, which can often have an outsize impact on the retail report, rose by 1.3%.
Yet even if autos are excluded, sales rose a robust 1.1%.
The biggest increase took place among stores that sell electronics and appliances. Sales leaped 4.5% — the biggest gain since October 2011 — and likely were boosted by the release of the new iPhone. (NASDAQ:AAPL) It went on sale in late September.
Sales also rose 1.8% among nonstore retailers, like Amazon, (NASDAQ:AMZN) that also sell lots of electronics.
Consumers had to shell out more money for gas again, but spending on fuel accounted for a smaller increase in retail sales than it did in August. Sales climbed 2.5% at gasoline stations last month, but overall retail spending was still 1.0% higher in September even when fuel is omitted.
Meanwhile, the government revised sales figures for August and July to show somewhat higher spending.
Retail sales climbed 1.2% in August — the fastest rate in almost two years — instead of 0.9% as previously reported. And the increase in July sales were revised up to 0.7% from 0.6%.
Administrator says:
September Retail Sales: Seasonal vs Non-Seasonal – Spot The Difference
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 10/15/2012 09:31 -0400
Just when we thought we may finally get one decent economic data point which even we could get excited about, we decided to look at the Non-Seasonally Adjusted September retail sales data. After all the $4.7 billion seasonal increase in headline retail sales was the second highest ever (in relative terms, second only to 2004). Turns out our curiosity was an enthusiasm-dowsing mistake, as a number which on the surface looked good, was hardly validated by the Not-Seasonally Adjusted number, which plunged by $31.9 billion. How does this September sequential change compare to previous years?
If anything, the 2012 spread of SA vs NSA retail change is most comparable to that from September 2007. As a reminder, this is 2 months before the 2nd Great Depression officially started.
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15th October 2012 at 9:55 am
efarmer says:
ABC radio news reported “unexpectedly strong sales spurred by the I phone 5″.
So our economy has been saved by a cell phone. I didn’t know it would be so simple.
EF
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15th October 2012 at 10:03 am
Stucky says:
Every fucking week for what seems like forever 300,000+ Americans file for unemployment, yet at the SAME time retail sales increase. This is truly a fucking economic miracle. I can’t wait until unemployment hits 50% …… can you imagine the economic growth then??? All hail, Obama.
.
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This is not directly related. It is indirectly related …. something we all already know ….. the massive web of lies and bullshit the media feeds us daily. Everywhere. Even Eurotrash. So, here we have a quote from the London Telegraph today; —–
“A protest by 10,000 Muslims outside the offices of Google in London today is just the first in an orchestrated attempt to force the company to remove an anti-Islamic film from website YouTube in Britain.”
10,000. Got it? They even posted a picture ….. the lying fucks;
Does that look like 10,000 mooslims??? Lying cocksuckers. They’re everywhere, not just Amurika.
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15th October 2012 at 10:09 am
Administrator says:
Deleveraging slowing household spending? No way, says researcher
October 15, 2012, 11:02 AM
It’s a common-enough assertion — U.S. consumer spending has been held back by deleveraging in the wake of the recession.
It makes some sense, except for one problem — it’s wrong.
That’s according to Daniel Cooper, a Boston Fed economist. “Overall, the data show little evidence that deleveraging affected household consumption. Rather, movements in consumption prior to, during, and following the Great Recession are consistent with the standard relationships implied by fluctuations in
household income and net worth,” he said in a study. Read study here.
In fact, Cooper finds the opposite: “there is evidence that suggests that households potentially under spent relative to income and net worth during the housing boom and have over spent since the recession began.”
Certainly, the latest report from the Commerce Department doesn’t show any sign of changing consumer behavior, as retail sales boomed in September. See story on retail sales.
– Steve Goldstein
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15th October 2012 at 11:05 am
AWD says:
Student loan disbursements spent on iphones.
I’d like my income and taxes “adjusted” the way the liars in the government adjust and massage their numbers.
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15th October 2012 at 11:11 am
matt says:
so the more expensive gasoline is the better retail sales are? what a crock of shit
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15th October 2012 at 11:22 am
Administrator says:
matt
Plus, when a deadbeat from West Philly drives off the car lot with a new Cadillac Escalade while putting $0 down and getting a 60 month 0% loan, that counts as a $40,000 retail sale.
Isn’t that precious?
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15th October 2012 at 11:25 am
sangell says:
I shot a ‘seasonally adjusted’ 66 on the golf course last week. The NSA number was 88 but it failed to take into account the residual effect of the previous nights bourbon consumption nor the gravitational effects of the moon’s orbit on the flight of my ball.
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15th October 2012 at 11:29 am
efarmer says:
sangell,
Nice round. Seasonally adjusted of course.
EF
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15th October 2012 at 11:47 am
ABOUT THOSE RETAIL SALES « The Burning Platform « Deals Sales Management says:
[...] more here: ABOUT THOSE RETAIL SALES « The Burning Platform Comments [...]
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15th October 2012 at 11:49 am
Davel says:
According to what I heard, the increased sales were stoked mainly by new car sales. Of the 17 new cars bought, NONE OF THEM WERE CHEVY VOLTS.
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15th October 2012 at 12:47 pm
Administrator says:
Commentary on The Capital Markets Posted 2012-10-15 09:06
by Karl Denninger
There comes a point where one has to raise the “BS!” flag high and wave it big. This would be one of those times.
The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for September, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, were $412.9 billion, an increase of 1.1 percent (±0.5%) from the previous month and 5.4 percent (±0.7%) above September 2011. Total sales for the July through September 2012 period were up 4.8 percent (±0.5%) from the same period a year ago. The July to August 2012 percent change was revised from 0.9 percent (±0.5%) to 1.2 percent (±0.3%).
This is literally all seasonal adjustment.
Yes, I mean it.
First, the unadjusted 2011-2012 number is up 3.02%, not 5.4% ($379,330 -> 390,766.) And there are no “seasonal adjustments” in an annualized change.
Second, taking out food and energy it’s a 2.83% increase (284,232 – 292,270); both are about 1% when CPI is removed (if you believe CPI.)
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15th October 2012 at 3:55 pm
Administrator says:
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15th October 2012 at 10:23 am
ThePessimisticChemist says:
A number of the ah….ahem…”urban” kids at the college I teach at were overjoyed to get their new iPhone5s with their federal loans. There are also a lot of fake nails, fake hair and full outfits of designer clothes.
I wore jeans and a t-shirt almost exclusively through college, my federal loan overages were used to do things like keep my truck running, and pay for food.
I’ll never understand how they can live like that. Spend 2-3 years in college racking up tons of debt, flunk out when they hit 300 level courses, and then go back home with $24k in debt that will never get paid off.
That would stress me the fuck out, but apparently it doesn’t bother them in the slightest.
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15th October 2012 at 10:33 am