Same-Store Retail Sales Pick-Up

Redbook's sample reported a pick-up in sales growth late last month and early this month, at a very strong year-on-year same-store sales pace of 5.1 percent in the August 3 week versus 4.5 percent in the prior week. This report has been consistently pointing to strong levels of demand in line with what turned out to be a robust inflation-adjusted annual sales rate of 4.3 percent in second-quarter consumer spending.