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 September, according to the latest survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. Revenues dropped at both retail and non-retail establishments. Retail shopper traffic fell, and big-ticket sales also ended the month in decline. Merchants’ inventories edged up on pace with a month ago. Retailers expected sales to remain weak for the six months ahead, and non-retail services providers anticipated flattening in business prospects over that period.
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In service sector employment, the number of employees changed little this month, while average wages grew modestly.
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Price growth slowed slightly in September. Survey respondents looked for the pace to accelerate during the next six months, though by a bit less than their outlook of a month earlier.