Say Anything Blog

Looks like Retail Sales were strong in December after all:

The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for December, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, were $382.9 billion, a decrease of 0.4 percent (±0.7%)* from the previous month, but 4.1 percent (±0.7%) above December 2006. Total sales for the 12 months of 2007 were up 4.2 percent (±0.4%) from 2006. Total sales for the October through December 2007 period were up 4.9 percent (±0.5%) from the same period a year ago.

I can’t imagine why they’d compare one month to the next.  The real comparison is to compare December 2007 with December 2006.  Retail sales were up a very healthy 4.1%.  Sales were up 4.9% for the fourth quarter and 4.2% for the total year.

The media folks want us to believe we’re in a recession.  Just today my home town bird cage liner ran a front page story about how we must be in a recession because someone somewhere got laid off.  The reality is much different.

The latest economic numbers on US GDP has us growing a super 4.9% in the third quarter last year (the most recent numbers available.) Retail sales were strong despite all of the doom and gloom talk they did during the Christmas season to scare the public away from buying.  The media and the Democrats (do I repeat myself?) want bad times in order to help them attain more power this election.  I guess the media is willing to throw away the credibility they have left for the cause.