If you were expecting today’s retail sales report for October to deliver a blowout gain in line with the surprisingly strong rise in payrolls for last month, today’s release on consumer spending is a disappointment. It’s not terrible, but the monthly 0.1% advance in retail consumption is below expectations and a sign that it’s still reasonable to keep expectations in check for anticipating a sharp turnaround for the economy overall in the fourth quarter.
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Fed officials are hinting that the odds of December rate hike are edging up. Yesterday’s round of comments from several policymakers still leaves room for debate for deciding if squeezing monetary policy at next month’s FOMC meeting is a done deal. But compared with the remarks in recent months, the public chatter on Thursday had a hawkish tone, if only on the margins.
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● US job openings rise in Sep to 2nd highest level on record | Bloomberg
● Fed officials consider case for US rate hike in Dec | Reuters
● US jobless claims unchanged last week, near 4-decade low | WSJ
● US Consumer Comfort Index edges higher in early Nov | Bloomberg
● Eurozone GDP growth eased to +0.3% in Q3 | Eurostat
● Q3 GDP: German growth moderates, French economy picks up | RTT