US retail sales disappoint forecast in Aug...
Retail sales and industrial output eked out smaller-than-expected gains in August, according to data on Friday that kept in place expectations the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates next week.
By Agencies |
WASHINGTON: Retail sales and industrial output eked out smaller-than-expected gains in August, according to data on Friday that kept in place expectations the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates next week. The re-ports showed signs of economic softness but the picture was not uniformly bleak. A drop in gasoline prices helped curb the sales retail gain, but helped hold a gauge of consumer confidence steady in early September. Retail sales rose a slim 0.3% last a month, the Commerce Department said. When motor vehicles and parts were stripped out, retail sales fell 0.4%, the sharpest drop since September 2006. The Fed said industrial production rose 0.2%, propped up by a surge in utility output that managed to offset drops at factories and mines. Wall Street economists had expected retail sales to gain 0.4% overall and 0.2% with cars stripped out, and they had looked for industrial output to rise 0.3%. The weak readings weighed on stocks and the dollar, and pushed prices for US government bonds higher as traders bet the data made it more likely the Fed would cut interest rates by a relatively hefty half-percentage point when policy-makers meet on Tuesday.
...consumer confidence also tumbles to lowest
WASHINGTON: Consumer confidence in the US tumbled to its lowest point as a deep housing slump and a credit crunch made people more worried about the country's economic health as well as their own. The RBC Cash Index showed consumer confidence clocking in at 71.1 in September, a sharp drop from August's reading of 89.3. It marked the worst showing since May 2006, when sticker shock from high gasoline prices rattled peoples' sense of economic well-being. The index is based on the results of the international polling firm Ipsos.
... but Paulson predicts economic growth will continue
CHICAGO: Treasury secretary Henry Paulson said on Friday that it will take time to work through the problems contributing to current financial market turmoil but expressed confidence US growth will not be derailed. “I feel very confident that this economy is going to continue to grow,” Paulson said in an interview. “Inflation is contained and that is obviously the key to extending an economic expansion.”
...consumer confidence also tumbles to lowest
WASHINGTON: Consumer confidence in the US tumbled to its lowest point as a deep housing slump and a credit crunch made people more worried about the country's economic health as well as their own. The RBC Cash Index showed consumer confidence clocking in at 71.1 in September, a sharp drop from August's reading of 89.3. It marked the worst showing since May 2006, when sticker shock from high gasoline prices rattled peoples' sense of economic well-being. The index is based on the results of the international polling firm Ipsos.
... but Paulson predicts economic growth will continue
CHICAGO: Treasury secretary Henry Paulson said on Friday that it will take time to work through the problems contributing to current financial market turmoil but expressed confidence US growth will not be derailed. “I feel very confident that this economy is going to continue to grow,” Paulson said in an interview. “Inflation is contained and that is obviously the key to extending an economic expansion.”
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