(IDEX Online) - After eight months of consecutive decline, US watch and jewelry sales came within a whisker of positive growth in October.
Year-on-year change for the month was -0.7 per cent, according to the latest Department of Commerce figures. That's the most encouraging performance since an increase of 2.2 per cent in February. Every other month since October 2022 has seen a contraction in sales.
Consumer demand is now picking up and the economy is stabilizing. The rise in US consumer spending during October was a modest 0.2 per cent, but inflation fell (down from 3.7 per cent to 3.2 per cent in October) and interest rates remained unchanged.
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