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):

The latest survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond showed a slowdown in service sector activity. Retail sales dipped overall and big-ticket sales suffered another drop, despite an uptick in shopper traffic. Inventories declined in June, according to retail merchants. Non-retail services providers’ revenues also decelerated. Looking ahead six months, retailers expected the weakness would persist, while contacts at services firms remained optimistic.
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Turning to labor, retail hiring flattened and average retail wages fell in June. Hiring at services firms was also nearly flat. Average wages at non-retail establishments rose only slightly compared to a month ago.
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Price changes in the broad service sector almost matched May’s pace. Within the sector, prices climbed more rapidly at retail businesses, but the pace slowed somewhat at services firms. For the six months ahead, survey respondents at retail and non-retail services firms anticipated prices would advance more quickly than they had expected in May.