Economic reports show improvement
Several sectors of the U.S. economy seem to be working their way out of the recession, the worst downturn since the Great Depression.
Total retail sales rose 0.4% to $366.4 billion in April for their seventh straight increase, helped by brisk business at health and personal care shops and gasoline stations, the Commerce Department said Friday.
Building and garden equipment stores saw sales jump 6.9%, which some analysts said was suspiciously high. Most major categories fell, including general merchandise, electronics and appliances and clothing.
Sales were up 8.8% from April 2009, but slowed from the 2.1% boom in March, which was attributed to a slew of incentives from the auto industry as well as an early Easter holiday.
Consumer spending, which is said to propel 70% of the economy, also grew at its fastest clip in three years during the first three months of 2010.
“April was nothing to write home about….[but] we don’t doubt that consumer spending is in the midst of a trend recovery, underwritten importantly by the rebound in jobs and incomes,” Jay Feldman, director of economics at Credit Suisse Securities, said in a report Friday.
Shoppers are also feeling more active, according to an index from the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan’s Surveys of Consumers. Consumer sentiment stepped up to 73.3 in May from 72.2 in April, maintaining a period of relative stability that started in the fall.
Consumer expectations are up to 68.3, compared with 66.5 in April, while the measure of current economic conditions is now sitting at 81.1 from 81. Shoppers’ outlook for the economy over the next 12 months is up to 84 from 80 on the index.
Inventories also climbed 0.4% in March for the third straight month, according to another report from the Commerce Department on Friday. Total business sales swelled 2.3% from February in their sixth straight gain to $1,069 billion.
Compared with last year, inventories are down 5% from March 2009 while sales are up nearly 12%.
Industrial production in factories, utilities and mines also strengthened in April, according to the Federal Reserve, rising 0.8%. Total output was up for the ninth time in 10 months -- bulk manufacturing, rose 1%. Mining rose 1.4% while utilities fell 1.3%, largely due to high temperatures in April.
Capacity utilization expanded to 73.7% from 73.1% in March, the highest point since November 2008.
