US Economy: Retail Sales Rise In August Despite Delta Variant Concerns – By Ben Scheffer (IB Times) / Sept 16 2021
Despite a sharp drop in car sales due mainly to production shortages, U.S. retail sales in August rose 0.7%, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. The figure beat a Dow Jones estimate of a 0.8% decline and suggested that the economy can withstand the effects of the Delta variant.
Meanwhile, the Labor Department reported that initial jobless claims totaled 332,000 in the week ending Sept. 11, compared to the expected 320,000 by Dow Jones.
U.S. retail sales unexpectedly rise in August; weekly jobless claims climb https://t.co/QVY8rpMrhD pic.twitter.com/6JFcPExzyi
— Reuters (@Reuters) September 16, 2021
“On the face of it, it is disappointing but not entirely surprising to see a slight increase in new jobless claims given the toll taken by the Delta variant. Countering that somewhat is the decline in continuing claims to a fresh pandemic-era low,” Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at Bankrate, said in a statement.
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