In the US there appears to be some economic growth and US business is picking up slowly. The business in the US restocked shelves is July faster than they have since January which is an indication that there might just be some economic improvement and hope for the near future.
US Business Picking Up Slowly
In July, there was a 0.4% growth from the month of June according to the Commerce Department signaling that US business is picking up. The month before it went up just 0.1% In July the total business sales were up 0.6% which was an increase from the 0.2% amount in June.
The stockpiles are an indication that companies expect to see more sales in the near future and that they are preparing for this. When there’s more stockpiles this means more manufacturing and growth for businesses. The higher sales means the companies won’t have excess inventories to deal with. In July the $1.66 trillion in business stockpiles was up 3.2% from a year ago which shows that there has been some nice growth in businesses. Overall, recent trends demonstrate that US business is picking up pace.
The stockpiles of retail goods grew to 0.8% and manufacturing at 0.2% along with wholesalers at 0.1%. Manufacturing is about 40% of business inventories, with retail at one third, and wholesale with the rest.
Consumer spending is going up but it’s at a slow space. The Thanksgiving and Christmas season of 2013 may show the real sign of whether people are ready to begin spending again and if it’s more certain that US business is picking up for the long haul. Retailers need to be cautious as the economy isn’t quite on track just yet and more work needs to be done. There are still a lot of worries still in the market as well as around other places of the world. This fear could have an impact on sales in the near future. Consumers may stop spending if they see any instability in the market or another major crisis take shape around the world. However, for now, let’s take what we can get as US Business is picking up and we may finally be headed for some stability in the economy.
