Daily Roundup of Key US Economic Data for Oct. 15

01:49 PM EDT, 10/15/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Retail sales rose by 0.8% in September and were up 0.9% excluding a 0.2% gain in auto sales, both well above expectations. However, when a 6.4% price-related jump in gasoline stations sales were also excluded in addition to vehicle sales, retail sales rose by 0.2% after a 1.0% gain, right on expectations. A 1.3% gain in furniture sales, a 1.1% jump in food services and drinking place sales and a 0.4% gain in food store sales were key factors. Control group retail sales, which exclude autos, gas, building materials, and food services, rose by 0.1% after a 1.2% gain in August. The PPI rose by 1.3% in September following a 0.5% gain in August, a larger gain than expected, with energy prices up 10.8% and food prices up 1.2%. Core prices, which exclude food and energy, rose by 0.7%, also above expectations, after a 0.2% increase in the previous month. Services prices were up 0.8% in September, with trade services prices up 1.4%. The year-over-year rise in producer prices accelerated to 6.3% from 5.6% in the prior month, while core prices accelerated to 5% year-over-year after a 4.8% year-over-year increase in the previous month. The Empire State index rose to 25.5 in October from 7.6 in September, while the Philadelphia Federal Reserve's manufacturing reading fell to 20.9 in October from 37.8 in September. Initial jobless claims increased by 1,000 to 199,000 in the week ended Oct. 10, lifting the four-week moving average by 250 to 198,500 after declines in the previous five weeks. Insured claims fell by 4,000 to 1.710 million in the week ended Oct. 3. Natural gas stocks rose by 67 billion cubic feet to 3.567 trillion cubic feet in the week ended Oct. 9, down 3.9% from a year earlier but 1.3% higher than the seasonal average for the current week over the previous five years. Business inventories rose by 0.4% in August after a 0.9% gain in July. Business sales increased by 1.1% after a 0.5% gain, with increases at the retail and wholesale levels and an unchanged reading for the factory level. Total crude oil inventories fell by 8.6 million barrels in the week ended Oct. 9, with commercial oil inventories accounting for the entire decline. Gasoline inventories increased in the week while distillate inventories decreased. The Q3 GDP nowcast estimate from the Atlanta Fed is for a 3.6% gain, unrevised from the previous estimate.