Data Point - Retail sales indicating a much more robust economy? - Granite Grok

Data Point – Retail sales indicating a much more robust economy?

Retail sales—a measure of spending at U.S. stores, websites and restaurants—rose a seasonally adjusted 0.5% in July from the prior month, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. That was well ahead of economists’ forecasts for a 0.1% increaseCompared with a year earlier, they grew 6.4% in July. That’s more than double the pace of inflation, which increased 2.9% in the year to July, as measured by the Labor Department’s consumer-price index.

Robust hiring and low unemployment mean more households have income to spend.

That is being amplified by tax cuts, which have resulted in less paycheck withholding. With demand strong, production is also up. U.S. factory output rose 0.3% in July, the Federal Reserve said Wednesday, and was up 2.8% from a year earlier, largely on higher auto and computer production.

My family has been on an extremely tight budget for the last year or so knowing that my being offshored would negatively affect things.  Well, M2 Holdings LLC, of which GraniteGrok is a “division / product line” is starting to show the efforts of a lot of “working on your company vs working in your company” (As my UNH SBDC advisor, Scott Stephens, kept hammering me on).  Thus, we’ve been able to be a bit towards “normal”.  Y’all will be seeing the results on GraniteGrok as well  as we are “provisioning up” – B&H Photo and Padcaster are happy with me right now.

The downside, though, is inflation is starting to creep up…

(H/T: Instapundit)

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