Retail Sales Rise Noticeably in September
On October 14, the Census Bureau announced that retail and food services sales for September were $395.5 billion, an increase of 1.1 percent from August and 7.9 percent above September 2010. Total sales for the July through September 2011 period were up 8.0 percent from the same period a year ago. Additionally, the July to August 2011 percent change was revised from upward from no change to 0.3 percent increase.

Link: News Release

Trade Deficit Shows Little Movement in August
On October 13, the Bureau of Economic Analysis announced that exports in August totaled $177.6 billion while imports totaled $223.2 billion resulting in a goods and services (trade) deficit of $45.6 billion, virtually unchanged from July. Specifically, August exports were $0.1 billion less than July exports of $177.7 billion and August imports were $0.1 billion less than July imports of $223.3 billion. Additionally, the goods deficit increased $0.1 billion from July to $61.4 billion, and the services surplus increased $0.2 billion to $15.8 billion. Exports of goods decreased $0.1 billion to $126.7 billion, and imports of goods were virtually unchanged at $188.1 billion. Exports of services were virtually unchanged at $50.9 billion, and imports of services decreased $0.2 billion to $35.1 billion. Compared to August 2010, the trade deficit increased $0.1 billion.

Link: News Release