Receding Retail

US retail sales rose just 0.3% in October, their slowest pace since spring. This suggest that, at minimum, consumers are becoming more cautious and possibly that the recovery is slowing as job growth softens, virus cases rise, and government assistance peters out. Moreover, debit and credit card spending are down 4% Y-o-Y and consumer confidence, as measured by four different surveys, has declined of late. Nancy, Joe, Mitch, let’s go!