Retail sales in Europe accelerates in October

Despite Monday's economic news, Europe's economy continues to show some resilience.

AFX/Forbes reports that euro zone retail sales fell 0.6 percent in September from August but the Bloomberg retail PMI for October was more upbeat.

Retail-sales growth in the dozen nations sharing the euro accelerated in October as cheaper oil prices and increased hiring bolstered consumer spending, the Bloomberg purchasing managers index showed.

An index of retail sales rose to a seasonally adjusted 52.8 from 52.4 in September, a survey of more than 1,000 retail executives compiled for Bloomberg LP by NTC Economics Ltd. showed today. A level above 50 indicates growth.

Outside the euro zone, British retail sales accelerated in October according to the British Retail Consortium. Reuters reports:

The BRC said like-for-like sales rose an annual 2.6 percent in October, up slightly from 2.4 percent in September. Last week, the Confederation of British Industry said sales volumes fell at their sharpest rate in seven months...

Total sales, which include new floorspace, decelerated in October to be up 5.0 percent on a year ago against 5.2 percent in September.

Outside retail, Bloomberg reports that German industrial production fell in September.

Production slipped 0.3 percent from August, when it advanced 1.4 percent, the Economy and Technology Ministry said today in Berlin. Economists forecast a decline of 0.1 percent, according to the median of 37 estimates, in a Bloomberg News survey. From a year earlier, production jumped 6.1 percent.

In the US, the main news is the congressional elections, but there was also an economic report out from another part of the government. From MarketWatch:

U.S. consumer credit outstanding fell by the biggest amount since April 1992 in September as households took out fewer loans for items like automobiles and boats, the Federal Reserve said Tuesday.

Total consumer credit fell by $1.20 billion in September, or by a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 0.61%, to $2.366 trillion, the Fed said.

That news certainly doesn't suggest that the Federal Reserve is going to follow the Reserve Bank of Australia's move today any time soon. From Bloomberg.

Australia's central bank raised its benchmark interest rate to the highest in almost six years today as Governor Glenn Stevens attempts to curb an inflation rate he says may continue to breach the bank's target range.

The Reserve Bank of Australia raised the overnight cash rate target a quarter percentage point to 6.25 percent, as predicted by all 24 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. It was the third increase this year and the first since Stevens became Governor.