A series of economic reports released yesterday showed rising retail sales, lower initial unemployment claims and continuing low inventory levels, leading experts to believe that economic expansion is picking up pace. Auto sales incentives such as employee discounts appear to have diverted consumer spending from other goods. Economists said the strong consumer spending was most directly related to falling joblessness.
See "Economic Expansion Grows as Unemployment Shrinks", Vikas Bajaj, The New York Times, August 11, 2005