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.
In a nifty online video, the U.S. Census Bureau explains “the importance of accuracy” and offers a real-life example of how the agency catches and addresses data problems.
From the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond’s latest survey of manufacturing activity in the South Atlantic (District of Columbia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia):
Manufacturing activity in the central Atlantic region contracted at a less pronounced rate this month, according to the Richmond Fed’s latest survey. Looking at the main components of activity, employment grew at a slightly quicker rate, while shipments exhibited more moderate weakness and new orders slipped further into negative territory. Evidence of diminished weakness was also reflected in most other indicators. District contacts reported that backlogs, capacity utilization, and delivery times remained negative but improved from August’s readings. Manufacturers reported somewhat quicker growth in finished goods inventories.
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Looking forward, manufacturers’ assessments of business prospects for the next six months were more optimistic in September. Contacts at more firms anticipated that shipments, new orders, backlogs, and capacity utilization would grow more quickly during the next six months than they expected in August, while growth in capital expenditures would be slower.
The once-booming South, which entered the recession with the lowest unemployment rate in the nation, is now struggling with some of the highest rates, recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show.
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Several Southern states — including South Carolina, whose 11.1 percent unemployment rate is the fourth highest in the nation — have higher unemployment rates than they did a year ago. Unemployment in the South is now higher than it is in the Northeast and the Midwest, which include Rust Belt states that were struggling even before the recession.
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For decades, the nation’s economic landscape consisted of a prospering Sun Belt and a struggling Rust Belt. Since the recession hit, though, that is no longer the case. Unemployment remains high across much of the country — the national rate is 9.1 percent — but the regions have recovered at different speeds.