Redbook Weekly Retail Sales Impacted by Sandy and Halloween

The Redbook Retail Sales data, which is a part of the Johnson Redbook Index, is showing some mixed results for the retail sector and it is hard to imagine that Hurricane Sandy did not have some mixed impact. This morning's report showed that U.S. retail sales were down by 0.6% in the first week of November, versus the first week of October, but that figure is actually up by 0.8% from a year ago. Hurricane Sandy and last minute Halloween shopping helped to provide the lift.

While this is a retail indicator, and while consumer spending is a huge portion of gross domestic product, these weekly retail readings are not really considered to be market-moving indicators.

-The 24/7 Wall St. Team

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire