U.S. consumer activity accelerated in September

Retail sales jump to near pre-pandemic levels in September.
A line chart showing the YoY percent change of retail sales between September 2018 and September 2020. See image description.
A line chart showing the YoY percent change of retail sales (excluding auto sales) between September 2018, when sales topped 6.2%, and September of this year, at 4%, after climbing back in recent months from a sharp decline of -16.64 in Apr-2020. There are two dotted orange lines that represent the normal range for the prior expansion, defined as one standard deviation above and below the average change from July 2009 to February 2020.