Singapore’s retail sales rose 4.6% year-over-year

The Oct results suggested a slowdown developing as far as consumer spending is concerned which may temper expectations of strong pickups in the economic growth of the 4th quarter. Core prices had been expected to inch up by 0.1%.

The Commerce Department said retail sales edged up 0.1 per cent last month after being unchanged in both September and August.

Economists watch the retail sales report closely because it provides the first indication each month of the willingness of Americans to spend. Nonstore retailers were up 7.1% from October 2014 and motor vehicle and parts dealers were up 6.2% from a year ago.

Personal income, reflecting Americans’ pretax earnings from salaries and investments, climbed 0.1% in September.

Substantial weakness was also visible among networking stocks, as reflected by the 2.2 percent loss posted by the NYSE Arca Networking Index.

Holiday spending is projected to jump 3.7 percent this year to $630.5 billion, a gain that would be above the 10-year average in holiday sales growth of 2.5 percent, according to the National Retail Federation. Friday’s report showed gas station sales declined 20.1 per cent from a year earlier in October.

But that is not necessarily a surprise, as consumers typically pare back other types of discretionary spending after a big-ticket purchase like an automobile, said Joshua Shapiro, chief USA economist for MFR Inc.

Estimates for retail sales in the survey ranged from little change to a 0.8 per cent increase.

Receipts at sporting goods and hobby stores gained 0.4 percent and sales at restaurants and bars rose 0.5 percent.

Other measures have sent mixed signals about consumer spending.

US businesses boosted their stockpiles in September by the largest amount in three months, while sales were flat.

Sales at auto dealerships fell 0.5 percent last month after rising 1.4 percent in September.

Federal Reserve is expected to increase interest rates next month as the jobs data has been strong and economy has shown strength. Friday’s report could be a key factor as the Fed scrutinizes economic data ahead of its decision at a December 15-16 meeting.