US retail sales and eurozone industrial production fall

The data from the US on Friday were mixed. Bloomberg reports that retail sales fell in August.

Sales at U.S. retailers unexpectedly dropped in August...

The 0.3 percent decline in purchases followed a 0.5 percent drop in July, the Commerce Department said today in Washington. Excluding automobiles, purchases were down 0.7 percent, the most this year...

Excluding gasoline, purchases were unchanged last month after a 0.6 percent decline in July.

But consumer sentiment improved in September.

... The Reuters/University of Michigan index increased to 73.1 this month from August's reading of 63. The measure averaged 85.6 in 2007.

And producer prices fell in August.

Prices paid to producers decreased 0.9 percent, more than forecast, as energy costs fell by the most in almost two years. Petroleum, home heating oil, natural gas and gasoline prices all retreated. So-called core producer prices, which strip out fuel and food costs, rose 0.2 percent, in line with forecasts.

Meanwhile, industrial production is weakening elsewhere in the world. For example, in Europe, as Bloomberg reports.

European industrial production fell more than economists forecast and payrolls grew at the slowest pace in almost two years as the region's economy teetered on the brink of a recession.

Output in the 15-nation euro area fell 0.3 percent from June, its third consecutive drop, the European Union statistics office in Luxembourg said today. The drop exceeded the 0.2 percent median forecast of 31 economists in a Bloomberg news survey. A separate report showed employment growth eased to 0.2 percent in the second quarter from 0.3 percent in the first...

A separate report from the Bank of France showed that French manufacturing confidence held near a five-year low in August as orders declined.

And also in China. AFP/CNA reports:

China reported an easing in industrial output Friday, providing further evidence its economy is slowing amid a global slump and reinforcing expectations Beijing will move to spur growth.

Industrial output growth eased to 12.8 per cent in August, down 4.7 percentage points from a year earlier, figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics showed.

In the first eight months of the year, industrial output expanded 15.7 per cent from the same period in 2007, the bureau said.

On a more positive note, growth in Japanese industrial production for July has been revised up to 1.3 percent from 0.9 percent previously reported.