Oct US retail sales dip as economy starts to cool: Think tank

Consumer spending decreased by 0.1 per cent in October compared to a rise of 0.9 per cent in September and a 0.7-per cent increase in August.

After adjusting for inflation using consumer price index (CPI) data, real October spending growth was minus 0.2 per cent from September, Erik Lundh, a principal economist at The Conference Board, wrote on the think tank’s website.

“We expect this pullback in spending to continue and intensify into 2024,” he wrote. The economy is likely to slip into contractionary territory in the first of next year, and the think tank expects that the National Bureau of Economic Research will classify this period as a recession.

Consumer demand for goods fell by 0.2 per cent in October from the September figure in nominal terms.

Spending on motor vehicles and parts fell by 1.0 per cent in October from September. When adjusting goods spending for CPI inflation, the real growth rate was about minus 0.6 per cent.

ALCHEMPro News Desk (DS)