March 2013 Retail Sales decreased, by -0.4%. This is the lowest monthly change in retail sales since June 2012. Gasoline sales declined the most, -2.2% for the month. If one removes gasoline sales from retail sales, overall the decrease from February would have been -0.2%, or half of the monthly decline. Auto sales decreased -0.6% and minus all autos & parts but including gas sales, retail sales dropped -0.4% from last month. This report should amplify Wall Street's worries people are so tapped out they have stopped spending and ruin their stock market run up.
The February Consumer Price Index jumped 0.7% from January. CPI measures inflation, or price increases. The culprit is gas prices again, which skyrocketed 9.1% for the month and is 75% of the monthly increase. This is the biggest monthly jump in CPI since June 2009. Take food and energy items out of the index and CPI actually rose 0.2% from January.
February 2013 Retail Sales increased, by 1.1%. Gasoline sales shot up 5.0% from January on higher prices. If one removes gasoline sales from retail sales, overall the increase from January would have been 0.6%. Auto sales increased 1.1% and minus all autos & parts but including gas sales, retail sales increased 1.0% from last month. This report should alleviate Wall Street's worries people are so tapped out they have stopped spending. It didn't happen, yet.
The November Consumer Price Index decreased -0.3% from October. CPI measures inflation, or price increases. The culprit is gas prices. The gasoline index declined by -7.4%, the largest decline in gas prices since December 2008. The dramatic drop in gas prices offset inflation in other areas for the month which resulted in a decline not seen since May 2012 Below are CPI's monthly percentage changes.
November 2012 Retail Sales increased, by 0.3%. Gasoline sales tanked -4.0% from October on lower prices. If one removes gasoline sales from retail sales, overall the increase from October would have been 0.8%. Auto sales increased 1.6% and minus all autos & parts but including gas sales, retail sales had no change from last month. Retail sales are reported by dollars, not by volume with price changes removed.
The October Consumer Price Index increased 0.1% from September. CPI measures inflation, or price increases. This month the culprit isn't gas prices, the gasoline index declined by -0.6% after July through September's meteoric 16.6% rise. The problem is the cost to rent a place to live increased 0.4% and had the highest monthly jump since June 2008.
October 2012 Retail Sales decreased, by -0.3%, Autos & Parts alone dropped -1.5% while auto dealers, part of autos & parts sales, declined by -1.6%. Minus autos & parts, retail sales had no change from last month. September's monthly percentage change was revised upward, from 1.1% to 1.3%. Retail sales are reported by dollars, not by volume, so dropping prices often reports as a decline in sales.
The September Consumer Price Index increased 0.6% from August. The CPI measures inflation. This is the second month in a row for CPI to increase 0.6% and these jumps are the largest since June 2009. The reason again is gas with a 7.0% increase in the gasoline index for September and August's CPI jump was also caused by gas at the pump with a 9.0% increase in gasoline prices.
In September, Producer Price Index, or wholesale inflation, increased 1.1% for finished goods and is the 2nd month in row for a jump. August PPI increased 1.7%. Gasoline again is the cause, with prices surging 9.8%. Gasoline was the culprit for 80% of the energy index ballooning by 4.7%. Food also increased by 0.2%. Core PPI, which are finished goods minus food and energy prices, had no change for the month.
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