Chinese Exports Down, Consumer Spending Up?

The economic data is getting weirder and weirder. China devalued the renminbi because its exports had plummeted about 8 percent, and now we hear consumer spending in America was up 3.1 percent in the second quarter.

Have U.S. consumers suddenly stopped buying Chinese products? I don't think so. For that reason I'm very suspect of these numbers.

Once answer could be consumers slowed down spending during one part of the quarter, which could have skewed the export numbers of China for last month.

Other than that, it's very strange if we find out that wasn't the case, and somehow consumer spending exceeded expectations by a lot, but they decided to spend on goods from America or other countries. Since that hasn't happened in years, as far as what would essentially boycotting Chinese products, it's very difficult to believe these numbers are reflective of real consumer spending.

Again, the only scenario I can think of is if Americans really spend big in the first two months of the quarter, and then cut back. Otherwise, something stinks in these numbers.