The Lehmann Letter (SM)
Today the Commerce Department announced that May retail sales fell 1.2% from the April level:
http://www.census.gov/retail/marts/www/marts_current.pdf
This serves as a reminder of the current recovery’s fragility. While it's true that these data vary from month to month, household purchases can't be counted on to pull the economy robustly forward. Consumers continue to put their balance sheets in order. This means reducing debt and building liquidity. That is bound to have a negative effect on spending.
The economy is recovering, but it's a struggle.
© 2010 Michael B. Lehmann
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