Despite a weak job market, consumers opened their wallets and started spending once again, shinning a ray of light on ETFs which track the retail sector, such as the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT), the Retail HOLDRs (RTH) and the PowerShares Dynamic Retail Portfolio (PMR).

According to Thompson Reuters, comparable sales for retail stores open at least a year rose 3.3% in August, better than the 2.5% that was forecasted. Furthermore, it appears that this outperformance in the retail sector came at the expense of consumer savings rates, which dipped by 6% in August.

Domestic equity markets have shown signs of life recently, as several positive data releases in recent days have sparked optimism on Wall Street. On the back of impressive sales from retailers, an uptick in M&A activity, and strong commodity prices, stocks have rallied in recent sessions. But these gains have come on relatively light volume, as investors have viewed these positive developments with understandable skepticism. The real test will come on Friday with the release of the latest jobs figures.

Aggregate retail sales seem likely to struggle in the coming months. Retail sales may get some uplift as the holiday season nears but it is far too early to tell at this point. Unless there are major improvements in the labor market in the next quarter or two, retail sales appear likely to struggle.

There will no doubt be pockets of strength and weakness. For instance Wal-Mart (WMT) stands a good shot of capturing or maintaining new customers who do not traditionally shop at their stores, while other more expensive stores like Target (TGT) or specialty grocery stores or pricey “teeny bopper” stores such as Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) stand to stagnate or even struggle given the sloppy market for labor.