Let's not be confused by the numbers. Yes, retail sales jumped 2.7% in August, but they are still down twice as much from last year -- 5.7%.
Gas stations saw an increase of 5.1% due to the increase in oil prices.
Wholesale prices rose 1.7% in August, after falling 0.9% in July. But again, keep in mind that wholesale prices are down 4.3% from a year ago. This month's rise was led by an 8.0% jump in energy prices and a 23% spike in the price of oil.
Core prices (excluding food and energy) rose 0.2% in August but again were down 2.3% year on year.
What can we glean from these data? Generally these numbers came out better than expected. However, most of the gains were from higher energy and oil prices. We must keep in mind that we are down double all these numbers year on year. We need a really big catch up to proclaim that the economy is getting better over last year.
Anyway, these numbers are a hopeful sign. Our economy is on the mend, albeit very slowly.
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