US retail sales fall less than expected, Chinese exports grow

Data released on Wednesday show that the US consumer is holding up well. Bloomberg reports:

Sales at U.S. retailers fell less than forecast in September after the Obama administration’s cash-for-clunkers program expired, signaling consumers are gaining confidence in the outlook for an economic recovery.

The 1.5 percent decrease followed a 2.2 percent gain the prior month, figures from the Commerce Department showed today in Washington. Sales excluding automobiles climbed 0.5 percent, more than projected...

Another Commerce Department report showed inventories fell more than forecast in August as sales climbed, helping put firms in a position to increase orders in coming months. The 1.5 percent decrease in stockpiles, the biggest this year, was led by a plunge at auto dealers as the “cash-for-clunkers” plan revived sales.

Prices of imports increased 0.1 percent last month, the Labor Department said, after rising a revised 1.6 percent in August. Costs excluding fuel rose 0.6 percent, the most since July 2008, led by gains in metals.

Predictably, the good news was mirrored in China. From Reuters:

China reported surprisingly strong trade figures on Wednesday, providing fresh evidence that the world's third-largest economy is firmly on a recovery track and that global demand is improving too.

Exports in September fell 15.2 percent from a year earlier, beating forecasts of a 21 percent fall, while imports fell just 3.5 percent -- well short of expectations of a 15.3 percent decline, the General Administration of Customs said...

Indeed, after adjustments to take account of the number of working days in each month, exports rose 6.3 percent in September from August and imports rose 8.3 percent, Customs said.

Japanese consumer spending will never match that of the US, but at least consumer confidence there is getting better. Bloomberg reports:

Japan’s household sentiment rose to a 23-month high in September as the economy climbed out of its deepest postwar recession.

The confidence index advanced to 40.5 last month, the Cabinet Office said in Tokyo today, the ninth consecutive increase. Household sentiment plunged to a record low in December as an export slump prompted manufacturers to fire workers and slash paychecks.

Not to be left out, Europe also reported good numbers on Wednesday. Again from Bloomberg:

European industrial output rose for a fourth month in August, led by consumer durable goods, adding to signs the euro-area economy is emerging from the deepest recession since World War II.

Production in the economy of the 16 nations using the euro increased 0.9 percent from July, when it gained 0.2 percent, the European Union’s statistics office in Luxembourg said today. Output of durable goods such as washing machines jumped 5.3 percent, the biggest gain since the data began in 1990. From a year earlier, August output fell 15.4 percent, the slowest annual drop in eight months.