Trade, investment and retail statistics from China, out later this week, will be closely watched.
Investors on Wall Street — frightened by the prospect of falling company earnings as U.S. retail statistics provided the latest evidence of economic slowdown — dumped shares.
To start with, Westchester's grocery stores are about one-third smaller, on average, than those nationwide: 21,000 square feet, compared with more than 30,000 square feet, according to TradeDimensions, a publisher of retail statistics in Wilton, Conn.
But the retail statistics, although softer than forecasts, were seen as vibrant enough to suggest that consumption in the fourth quarter of 2010, while not as robust as previously thought, would contribute to gross domestic product.
V-Enable sent us similar retail statistics in December.
Retail statistics show that 16 shops are closing every day, most of them mothballed by the recession or beaten into submission by the internet.
However, the latest retail spending statistics did reveal a sharp fall in prices, suggesting that the sustained growth has been fuelled only by price wars.
Looking ahead, Wall Street will carefully monitor tomorrow morning's retail sales statistics for signs of mounting inflationary pressures.
The problem isn't so much the never-ending stream of surveys, studies, and statistics — retail sales, housing prices, consumer confidence, unemployment claims, and so on.
On Friday, new statistics for retail sales provided a bright spot for consumer spending, which is a cornerstone component of economic growth, by climbing more than forecast last month.
The results showed the fourth monthly drop in a row, and the ninth successive 12-month drop in retail sales, the worst statistics since the Second World War.
