SmallBusinessNewz

There was more evidence this week that the economy is recovering from the recession: Retail sales increased a bit between August and September, even though most youngsters (and/or youngsters' parents) should have finished stocking up for school during that first month.

The National Retail Federation found that retail industry sales increased 0.5 percent in September compared to August.  Clothing and clothing accessories stores were among the biggest beneficiaries, which seems to show that people are looking for new cold-weather duds rather than putting on last year's coat or three old sweatshirts.

Also straddling the practical/splurge line were health and personal care stores, which saw sales increase a little.

Then there was a pure let's-have-fun category among the September winners as sporting goods, hobby, book, and music stores experienced a measurable amount of month-over-month growth.  This perhaps stands as the clearest indicator of a recovery.

Of course, things could be a lot better; September 2009's sales figures were still down compared to last year's.  The Dow's down about 1.15 percent at the moment, as well, and the Nasdaq's taken an even bigger dive.  But positive improvements of any size are, by definition, good, and we welcome them.