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):

Activity in the service sector improved, according to the latest survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. The decline in retail activity slowed in January and business expanded at non-retail services establishments. In addition, both retail and non-retail firms had a better business outlook for the next six months than they held last month.
…
Service sector labor markets were mixed, with retail employment and wages remaining weak, though improved from a month ago, while employment and average wages picked up at services firms.
…
Price growth in the broad service sector picked up slightly in January, while remaining well-contained. Looking ahead six months, survey respondents expected overall price growth to remain moderate.