NYT/AP: Retail Sales Up on Rebound in Auto Demand

[DeepModem Mom]

Retail Sales Up on Rebound in Auto Demand
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: March 15, 2005
Filed at 10:42 a.m. ET


WASHINGTON (AP) -- Retail sales, bolstered by a rebound in demand for autos, rose a healthy 0.5 percent in February, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday.

In addition to a solid sales performance last month, the government revised sharply higher its estimate for sales activity in January, showing a gain of 0.3 percent rather than the original estimate that sales had fallen by 0.3 percent at the beginning of the year.

Taken together, the two months showed that the consumer buying spree that began with a 1.3 percent sales surge in December was continuing in the new year despite stormy winter weather and rising energy prices.

For February, auto sales rose by 0.7 percent, recouping part of the 2.1 percent plunge in sales that occurred in January. That decline reflected a reduction in the attractive incentives that auto dealers had offered in December in a successful effort to reduce their inventories of unsold cars.

In a separate report, the Commerce Department said that inventories held by businesses on their shelves and backlots increased 0.9 percent in January, a significant acceleration from a 0.2 percent inventory increase in December. Analysts had been expecting a strong advance reflecting business efforts to restock shelves in anticipation of further strong gains in sales....


http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-Economy.html

[mhr]

1. 1.3 Per Cent Sales Splurge By The Ultra Wealthy In December

This is clearly spin!

[Tempest]

2. Funny how the article doesn't mention

The expected increase was .7%

The retail numbers are not as rosy as the article would have you believe.