August US nominal retail sales rose more strongly than anticipated, but volume growth remains range-bound with consumers wary of potential tariff-induced price hikes and broadening evidence of a cooling jobs market.

The White House has turned its attention to the Bureau of Labor Statistics after a series of steep payroll revisions rattled confidence in the government’s jobs data.

In this video, Ira Epstein discusses the mixed performance in the stock market with the Nasdaq and S&P up, while the Dow and Russell are down.