Chart of the week
While we might have feared a fall or sharp slowdown in September’s retail sales as the various household income support measures came to an end, the numbers surprised to the upside, posting a 1.9% month-on-month increase, or 1.4% excluding automobiles, fuel and building materials. Minor downward revisions to previous months failed to undo the surprisingly upbeat numbers.
Our analysis
This figure is good news at a time when household incomes are receiving less support and the number of Covid-19 cases is turning back up. In addition, the improvement in the University of Michigan’s confidence index from 80.4 to 81.2 in October is reassuring.
The opinion expressed above is dated 16th October 2020 and is liable to change.
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