Consumers Increasingly Upbeat About The Economy

U.S. e-commerce continues to drive growth in the retail sector, as nonstore sales jumped 11.5% in July, the U.S. Commerce Department reported today. Total retail sales increased 4.3% year over year. In the first month of the third quarter, nonstore sales adjusted for seasonal variations totaled $52.74 billion, compared with $47.31 in July 2016. The 11.5% jump in July is a significant acceleration from June, during which nonstore sales increased 9.3% over the same month last year. Nonstore sales mainly take place online, but also include other sales that take place outside of stores, including mail and telephone orders, door-to-door sales and sales through vending machines. Click Read More below for more of the story.

The Postal Regulatory Commission issued its FY 2021 Annual Compliance Determination (ACD) assessing the Postal Service’s compliance with rates and service standards. The Commission is required to issue its ACD 90 days after the filing of the Postal Service’s Annual Compliance Report (39 U.S.C. Section 3653). This ACD is the first compliance review by the Commission following its implementation of new pricing rules for Market Dominant products in FY 2021. Those rules included new rate authority mechanisms, new requirements for workshare discounts and non-compensatory products, and several procedural changes. The Commission’s primary areas of review, its findings, as well as recommendations and directives, include: MARKET DOMINANT RATES AND FEES; COMPETITIVE PRODUCTS RATES AND FEES; SERVICE PERFORMANCE; FLAT-SHAPED MAIL

Costco Wholesale Corporation reported net sales of $9.41 billion for the month of July, the four weeks ended July 30, 2017, an increase of 8.8 percent from $8.65 billion during the similar period last year. For the forty-eight weeks ended July 30, 2017, the Company reported net sales of $113.70 billion, an increase of 6.1 percent from $107.16 billion during the similar period last year. Click Read More below for additional detail.