It's been a trying summer for many Americans, with a job market that's underperforming, and a listless Dow that's exhibited sideways action for three months, but there has been one encouraging trend of late: gasoline prices.

Although at an average U.S. price of $2.70 per gallon for regular unleaded and about 4% higher than last Labor Day, 'the trend has been the motorist's friend,' as they say on Wall Street, with prices moving lower, with a few hiccups, essentially since spring. In early May, the average price for unleaded regular hit $2.78 per gallon.

Consumers are finally spending more, with September posting the first gain in more than a year. The International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) found that retail sales inched 0.1% higher last month. It doesn't seem like much, but a gain when you anticipate a fall is good news magnified. But, it came at the expense of great deals and other tools to entice somewhat hesitant customers into stores.

Kohl's (NYSE: KSS) and Limited Brands (NYSE: LTD) reported sales increases in September for stores open more than a year. J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP), Macy's (NYSE: M) and Target (NYSE: TGT) posted declines, but they were better than expected. Delayed school openings thanks to a late Labor Day helped push to September sales that might have occurred in August otherwise.

Of course, all eyes are on the coming holiday season. The National Retail Federation forecasts U.S. consumer spending of $437.6 billion – up only slightly from $433.7 billion four years ago. So, we still have a lot of ground to make up before we can celebrate a recovery. As long as the situation is staying steady, though, we'll at least have a solid starting point.