Good news for the American Enconomy?

I got this email passed to me by a friend, can someone with experience in economic matters let me know if what he is saying is correct and the market is indeed picking up, or not so gloomy as we are lead to believe?

Thanks

Good morning,

Just a quick update on the market. First, yesterday we saw Retail Sales numbers come out for May and they reflected an increase of 1%, which was better than the expected number of 1/2 percent. The conclusion that can be drawn from this is that consumers went out and spent their stimulus checks. Great news for the economy! Why? Because if consumers were really feeling pinched they would have put the money in savings, or used it to pay down debt!

Today, the consumer price index (CPI) figures were released. As you know, this is the measure of inflation for the previous month. The CPI came in at an increase of .6 percent, compared to the expected number of .5%. The good news is overall inflation excluding food and energy came in right on target at .2 percent. The year over year inflation number came in at 4.2%, or slightly higher than the expected result of 3.9%.

All in all it looks like prices remain in check, and while energy costs have risen significantly, they have yet to impact overall consumer prices. The other news I am hearing is that Michigan's real estate market seems to be showing signs of improvement. It seems a good part of the rest of the nation is experiencing what we experienced last year, and we are starting to come out of it.

Finally, while there is now talk of the Federal Reserve considering raising interest rates, based upon today's data I don't see that happening any time soon.

Have a great day!