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 grew moderately in January, according to the latest survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. Within the service sector, retail activity strengthened compared to last month, while services firms experienced softer growth than a month ago. Retail sales accelerated in January, with a jump in shopper traffic. In addition, the on-going decline in big-ticket sales slowed markedly. Some retail inventory-building occurred. At services-providing firms, revenues expanded, although to a lesser extent than in December. Survey respondents continued to hold a confident outlook for prospects over the next six months; however, their predictions were somewhat less optimistic than in December.
…
In service sector labor markets, retailers trimmed their payrolls. Hiring at services firms increased at a more measured pace than a month earlier.
…
Price growth slowed in the broad service sector, restrained by nearly flat price change at services firms. For the six months ahead, survey respondents expected a pick-up in the pace of price growth compared to the current month’s rate.