An increase in US retail sales last month failed to offer much assurance on the outlook for the world's largest economy as much of it was driven by petrol prices.
Retail sales climbed 0.9pc in August, up from 0.6pc in July, the Commerce Department said on Friday. However, once purchases of cars and petrol are taken out, sales climbed just 0.1pc during the month.
A separate report showed that consumer prices rose 0.6pc, again driven by an increase in the cost of fuel. Taken together, the reports underlined the squeeze many Americans' finances are still subject to four years on from the financial crisis.
"This is less than positive for the outlook for consumer spending," said David Semmens, an economist at Standard Chartered.
On a busy day for US economic data, a separate report showed that industrial production tumbled 1.2pc last month after a 0.5pc increase in July.
The blitz of gloomier news comes less than 24 hours after the Federal Reserve embarked on a new round of quantitative easing in an effort to ignite the recovery.
In a major departure from previous policy, Fed chairman Ben Bernanke said the bank will continue to buy mortgage-backed bonds until there are signs of improvement in the jobs market. The unemployment rate currently stands at 8.1pc.
telegraph.co.uk
Retail sales climbed 0.9pc in August, up from 0.6pc in July, the Commerce Department said on Friday. However, once purchases of cars and petrol are taken out, sales climbed just 0.1pc during the month.
A separate report showed that consumer prices rose 0.6pc, again driven by an increase in the cost of fuel. Taken together, the reports underlined the squeeze many Americans' finances are still subject to four years on from the financial crisis.
"This is less than positive for the outlook for consumer spending," said David Semmens, an economist at Standard Chartered.
On a busy day for US economic data, a separate report showed that industrial production tumbled 1.2pc last month after a 0.5pc increase in July.
The blitz of gloomier news comes less than 24 hours after the Federal Reserve embarked on a new round of quantitative easing in an effort to ignite the recovery.
In a major departure from previous policy, Fed chairman Ben Bernanke said the bank will continue to buy mortgage-backed bonds until there are signs of improvement in the jobs market. The unemployment rate currently stands at 8.1pc.
telegraph.co.uk
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