Economy

U.S consumers cut their spending slightly during 2013, the first drop in overall spending in three years. Average expenditures last year among “consumer units” – mostly families and singles – was $51,1000, down 0.7 percent from 2012, according to data released Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Labor. Consumers increased …

National retail sales remained strong last week, as stores moved beyond the back-to-school season and into the start of autumn. Overall sales were up 4 percent year-over-year for the week that ended Saturday, and were up 0.7 percent compared with the previous week, according to the International Council of Shopping …

The U.S. job market’s hot streak is over. Employers added only 142,000 jobs in August, the smallest gain in eight months, according to data release Friday by the U.S. Department of Labor. That ended six consecutive months of at least 200,000 hires. The average monthly job growth during the past …

Back-to-school purchases gave national retail sales a boost during the week that ended Saturday. Sales were up in 4.8 percent for that week compared with the last week of August 2013, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs Weekly Chain Store Sales Index. Week-over-week sales were …

Some U.S. retailers must be wishing that the back-to-school season happened more than once a year. National sales during August were up 5.2 percent compared with August 2013, a healthy gain, according to data released Thursday by the International Council of Shopping Centers. Consumers who engaged in back-to-school shopping this …

Manufacturing in the Inland Empire continued to grow last month, but the pace of expansion in that sector is definitely slowing down. The purchasing managers index for Riverside and San Bernardino counties in August was 50.9, according to data released Tuesday by the Institute of Applied Research and Policy Analysis …