The Real Economy Blog

retail sales

Retail sales close out year on a positive note

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The health of the American consumer remains strong as outlays on retail sales closed out the year on a positive note with plenty of room for upward revisions. U.S. December advance retail sales increased 0.3% on a month-over-month basis and was up 6% on a year-ago basis. The control group that is used to estimate household spending inside the GDP ... READ MORE >

November retail sales not full of holiday cheer

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The traditional holiday sales did not get off a robust start in November, which was most likely because of a late Thanksgiving holiday that pushed some spending into December. After peaking in mid-2019, overall retail sales will need to pick up in December to support growth anywhere near 2% in the current quarter. Given the noise around the data series ... READ MORE >

U.S. retail sales grew at a healthy 0.3% in October

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The U.S. household continues to demonstrate strength through domestic retail sales, though at a decelerating pace. The October increase of 0.3 percent in top-line retail sales and the control estimate that feeds into the calculation of domestic gross domestic product reaffirm that the consumer remains on a solid footing heading into the critical holiday ... READ MORE >

US data deluge: cold cup of coffee on a sunny summer day

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This morning’s data deluge provided a perfect snapshot of the U.S. economy at the current time. A robust consumer, driven by strong real compensation in the first quarter of the year, continued to prop up the American economy, even as the domestic manufacturing sector contracted by 0.5% on a year-ago basis. For those not keeping score at home, ... READ MORE >

U.S. February retail sales point to weak Q1 household spending

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Soft top-line and underlying core retail sales in February point to persistent weak household spending in the first quarter of the year. While retail sales make up roughly 23 percent of household spending, we are certain that if personal spending in February and March does not surge at least 0.5 percent in each month that overall household spending will ... READ MORE >