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Initial jobless claims for the week ending in August 10 ticked lower to 227,000, coming in below the estimated 235,000. This is the second week of declines for jobless claims, indicating a continued strength in the labor market. Meanwhile, July's retail sales rose 1%, soaring past estimates of a 0.4% increase. This comes as inflation continues to moderate, and signals overall resiliency in consumer spending.
Morning Brief Hosts Seana Smith and Brad Smith report more on the latest data and what it highlights about the current health of the US economy.
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This post was written by Melanie Riehl
Well, stock futures right now are moving to the upside across the board for the US major averages on fresh economic data. Jobless claims, just one of those data points clocking in at 227,000. That is less than the 235,000 that was expected, pointing to continued strength in the labor market. Now, this does mark the second week in a row Americans filing for jobless benefits fell. So, there we're taking a look at the actuals versus the estimates here, a little bit more color on this report. The four-week moving average is now at 236,500. That is a decrease of 4500 from the previous week's revised average here. So, that also continuing to trend in the right direction as well. And Brad, when you take a look at retail sales, that's also a big driver here of the futures this morning. You've got retail sales for the month of July coming in stronger than expected, growing 1% last month, the consumer proving to be resilient. And this comes as inflation continues to moderate. So it rose 1%, much better than the street had been expecting and a significant turnaround from the revised decline of two tenths of a percent that we saw in the previous month. So again, once again proving that consumers are out there spending and spending at a faster clip at a higher rate than maybe what Wall Street continues to forecast. We also saw strength almost across the board when you take a look at some of these data points here. Spending on vehicles and electronics actually increased, really leading the way. I was going through some quick reaction on the street here this morning, one coming in from Capital Economics saying that there is almost nothing in this July retail sales report for the perma bears to latch onto. So taking some direct aim at the bears out there who have been calling for a recession despite the fact that much of the econ data that we have been getting out here over the last several weeks and several months remains resilient. One weaker point though within this report was the decline that we saw in spending when it comes to sporting good stores and also in department stores. That did decline, but again, overall a very strong report and a big reason why we are seeing futures move to the upside here this morning.
Who needs to go to a sporting goods store when you can just go to Costco and get some Kirkland golf clubs? Why not?