Good News, 2011 | featured news

Retail sales barely rose in December, but the gain was enough to lift sales to a record level for 2011. It marked the largest annual increase in more than a decade. Sales inched up 0.1 percent in December to a seasonally adjusted $400.6 billion, The Commerce Department said Thursday. It was the second straight month that sales have topped $400 billion. Never before had monthly sales reached that level.

The final weeks of 2011 were the economy's strongest since it appeared to be slipping toward recession in late spring.

When top retailers post their December sales this week, Wall Street analysts are expecting them to report a healthy end to the holiday season, helped by discounts, improved consumer sentiment and tactics like extended hours and layaways.

A monthly survey showed consumers’ confidence in the economy surged in December and was near a post-recession peak, although home prices fell in October in most major U.S. cities.

The U.S. trade deficit narrowed in October to its lowest point of the year as Americans bought fewer foreign cars and imported less oil. Exports of American-made autos also fell.

Small businesses in the United States grew more confident in the economy's future for the second straight month during October as their outlook for business conditions improved, according to a survey released on Tuesday.

While the unemployment rate dipped to 9 percent, the improvement was seen as mediocre.

Consumer sentiment inched up in early September, but Americans remained gloomy about the future with a gauge of expectations falling to the lowest level since 1980, a survey released on Friday showed.

U.S. service firms, which employ 90 percent of the work force, grew at a slightly faster pace in August. But the sector remains weak, adding to concerns that the economy is at risk.

Retail sales at major chain stores beat analysts' expectations, rising 4.4% year-over-year in August, according to Thomson Reuters' tally of 23 retailers. Discounters, including Target Corp. and Costco Wholesale Corp., did well as East Coasters stocked up before Hurricane Irene.