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 expanded in November, although employment remained soft, according to the latest survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. Revenues rose at retail and non-retail services businesses. Shopper traffic increased and retail inventories flattened. However, big ticket sales dropped. Retailers expected softer sales during the next six months, while services providers anticipated continued business improvement.
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In service sector labor markets, the number of employees fell while average wages continued to advance. However, the pace of increase in wages slowed somewhat compared to last month.
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Price growth ticked up slightly overall. Looking ahead six months, survey respondents expected prices to advance more quickly, with much of the push coming from retail price growth.