SmallBusinessNewz

Well, we'll say this: at least the news is consistent.  On the heels of the National Federation of Independent Business's discouraging report about optimism among small business owners during July, a statement from the National Retail Federation has indicated that sales weren't great, either.

The official release asserted, "As the critical back-to-school season heads into August, retail industry sales for July (which exclude automobiles, gas stations, and restaurants) decreased 5.0 percent unadjusted year-over-year and also declined 0.6 percent seasonally adjusted month-to-month."

This led Rosalind Wells, the NRF's chief economist, to observe, "Many families postponed the bulk of their back-to-school shopping this year, possibly waiting to take advantage of their state sales tax holiday or hoping for additional discounts.  Hopefully, retailers' aggressive promotions and reduced inventory levels will make for a better August and shield retailers from a disappointing season."

So there's something to look forward to, perhaps.  If you're in a counting-blessings mood, it might also be important to note that a 0.6 month-to-month decline isn't disastrous.

And we'll observe that not every piece of data jived in a bad way this week, as at least the Dow has gone up by about 37 points today.