Good Economic News of the Week

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Since I posted a big ol’ stew of bad economic news last night, it’s only fair to perk up the start of your week with some good economic news:

U.S. retail sales surged in October, rising above expectations on robust car sales and solid spending for a broad array of merchandise going into the holiday shopping season.

Separately, inventories at U.S. businesses in September rose above expectations, a sign of confidence among companies in the economic recovery as the holiday shopping season grew nearer. Retail sales rose 1.2% last month….The increase was the biggest since March and the fourth in a row. September sales rose 0.7%, revised up from a previously estimated 0.6% increase.

I don’t know if this is sustainable or not. Without a big drop in unemployment and steady wage gains, I doubt it, since consumers are still deleveraging and look to be doing so for a while now. Still, it’s good to see. I guess all that regulatory uncertainty isn’t holding back businesses after all.

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AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

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If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

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