Retail sales posted another respectable advance in September, the Census Bureau reports. The 1.1% rise last month matches the previous gain, which was revised up. It’s been a number of years, in fact, since we’ve seen back-to-back 1%-plus gains in retail sales on a monthly basis. Today’s retail sales update is just one data point, of course, but it echoes the narrative that I’ve been discussing on these pages for some time: the economy continues to chug along, expanding modestly. That implies that recession risk remains low. (For a broad review of the data behind this view, see last week’s updates of The Capital Spectator Economic Trend Index and the Q3 GDP nowcast.)