Economy: Steady As She Goes

(Drivebycuriosity) - This morning we got the usual new numbers from the economic front: U.S. retail sales grew 0.2% from July to August (seasonally adjusted), and sales were up 4.7% from August 2012 (calculatedrisk). According to the blog "Calculated Risk" retail sales are up 28.7% from the bottom (recession 2009), and now 12.8% above the pre-recession peak (calculatedrisk).

I am impressed how smooth the retail sales, the spine of the economy, are growing month for month. The advancing sales have been powered by the improvement of the job market and continuous gains on stock market and home prices, which are generating positive wealth effects, because owners of stocks & homes are spending more money.

This steadiness is backing my belief that the economic recovery is very sustainable and will continue a while fueling further gains on the stock market.