Consumer Stocks Higher Up On Wage Data - Consumer Roundup

Shares of retailers and other consumer-services companies rose amid hopes that rising wages would result in increased consumer spending. Wages in Spetember rose 0.45% from a month earlier, according to the Labor Department. One brokerage said the wage pressure was likely more than a one-off. "Notably wage growth has accelerated in the Professional & Business Services and Information Services," said analysts at brokerage Morgan Stanley, in a research note. "Sustained upward pressure on wages from these indsutries can go a long way in powering aggregate rates of wage growth." The founding family of Nordstrom and leveraged-buyout firm Leonard Green & Partners are considering a new structure to save a buyout plan that would include less debt than originally planned. Cereal maker Kellogg plans to buy niche protein-bar company RXBAR for $600 million, joining other food processors attempting to pivot with consumers' diets. Costco started offering two-day delivery on shelf-stable food and expanded a fresh-food delivery partnership with startup Instacart.

-Rob Curran, rob.curran@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 06, 2017 16:31 ET (20:31 GMT)