Unexpected decline of U.S. jobless claims

Retail sales experienced a mild rise of 0.2% in the month of August in the United States, according to a report published on Thursday by the Commerce Department.

This has been the slowest retail sales performance since the 0.5 drop of June, actually much lower than the 1.4% jump registered in July. The slowdown in auto sales is to blame for last month´s weak figures, auto sales augmented 0.4% in August after having risen 4.3% in July.

However the actual figures were better than the analysts expectations whose estimations advanced a 0.1% decline.

Consumer spending., the motor of the economical reactivation has slowed dramatically in spring as consumers faced a sharp increase in fuel prices, rising interest rates and a cooling housing market, which made home owners reluctant to spend money.

Economy has grown at an annual rate of 2.9% in the April-June quarter, which shows a deceleration when comparing with the 5.3% growth of the first quarter of the year.