August retail sales should help cure jobs hangover

The August jobs report this past Friday could be taken as a sign that the economy is close to slipping back into a recession. But many economists argue that this is oversimplified and point to expectations for this week’s retail sales report to stem the concern. They say that retail sales should actually look pretty good. They said spending was up by .7%. Even auto sales have risen despite the growing gas prices. They don’t think the economy is falling, though the labor market appears to be in worse shape than companies appear to be.