Hiring trends have weakened further in the second half of 2012, and the U.S. economy is not growing fast enough to reverse the pattern. The Federal Reserve has vowed to keep rates low through 2015, to help spur the economy.
Investors will be looking forward to Black Friday in November, the kick-off to the holiday retail season. Early next month, third quarter earnings season gets underway. Although companies are sitting on piles of cash, analysts are skeptical that profits will be healthy.
Market Vectors Retail ETF
Tisha Guerrero contributed to this article.