South By North Strategies, Ltd.

From the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond’s latest survey of service-sector activity in the South Atlantic (District of Columbia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia):

Service sector activity weakened in July, according to the latest survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. Shopper traffic dissipated and overall retail sales dropped, despite solid big-ticket sales. Retail inventories declined. The softness extended to non-retail services firms, where revenues also fell. Looking ahead six months, retail merchants remained unenthusiastic about sales. Services-providers’ expectations were subdued, compared to the previous month’s outlook.
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Employment measures in the service sector also diminished in July. Survey participants reduced the number of employees at their establishments this month, and gains in average wages slowed.
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Price increases in the broad service sector picked up somewhat this month. The six-month outlook for price change in the overall service sector was for faster price increases, compared to the current pace and to the outlook of a month ago.