Figures released by the Commerce Department last week show that the US retail market is continuing down the path of recovery. US retail sales increased 1.9% or $549.26 billion in September—surpassing economists' expectations of a .7% increase for the month. Year-over-year, retail sales have increased 5.9%.
The question is, can this momentum continue?
Healthy payroll growth, back-to-school spending and disaster-relief unemployment aid have fueled the recent market gains. "Today's data indicate that consumers are still driving the recovery forward — but there is growing doubt that the pace of activity can be sustained as income growth moderates and savings are being drawn down," James Watson, senior U.S. economist at Oxford Economics, said in a report by S&P Market Intelligence.
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Kelsi Maree Borland
