Most of the economic news coming out the U.S. on Friday was disappointing. The Commerce Department reported that retail sales rose only 0.6% in August, after rising 1.3% in July.

Excluding sales of automobiles, retail sales advanced a mere 0.7%, after rising only 0.8% in July.

Economists had called for a 1.6% overall rise and a 0.8% core increase.

BMO Nesbitt Burns says that the headline number likely will produce disappointment with this report, but core sales were basically very strong. “Not only did most lines of business record hefty August gains, but they came on top of a 1% rise in core retail activity in July.

“Clearly, U.S. consumers are spending at least some of their tax rebates,” agrees TD Bank. “However, the tax relief is a one-off measure that will likely have run its course by the end of the first quarter of next year. If consumer spending gains are to be sustained, the U.S. economy will need to start creating jobs.”

The U.S. Labor Department reported wholesale prices rose just 0.4% in August after rising 0.1% in July. When food and energy are excluded, producer prices rose 0.1%, after a rise of 0.2% in July.

The increase in the Producer Price Index more or less matched expectations.

“Not much change in the trend of underlying inflation is seen in these numbers with pipeline pressures still very mild, suggesting the weak dollar is not successfully creating U.S. pricing power,” said Nesbitt.

Also on Friday, the Michigan Sentiment Index for September unexpectedly fell to 88.2 from 89.3. Economists were expecting the index to report a rise. Both the current conditions and outlook components slipped.