The insight: September’s US retail sales report proved that the vibecession isn’t getting in the way of consumer spending.

• Retail sales were up 0.4% month over month (MoM) and 1.7% year over year (YoY), per the Commerce Department, beating estimates for 0.3% MoM growth.
• Control group sales (which exclude food services, auto dealers, building materials stores, and gas stations) were up 0.7% MoM, and grew at a 6.4% annualized rate in Q3—the strongest rate of growth since early 2023.