U.S. Retail Sales Disappoint in April
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
- Spending is uneven across categories.
- Core goods recover earlier loss.
- Online sales strengthen, but furniture & appliances sales slide.
Consumers resumed their spending ways in April following two months of pullback. Retail sales rose 0.4% (1.6% y/y) after declining 0.7% in March, revised from -1.0%. The April increase fell short of expectations for a 0.7% rise in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Sales excluding motor vehicles also rose 0.4% (+2.1% y/y) after declining 0.5% in March, revised from -0.8%. Expectations had been for a 0.5% rise.
Sales in the retail group, which excludes autos, building materials, gasoline & restaurants rose 0.7% (4.2% y/y) after falling 0.4% in March. Sales held steady in February but rose 1.7% in January.
Last month’s sales improvement reflected a 0.4% increase (-0.5% y/y) in motor vehicle purchases after two months of sharp decline. The latest increase compared to a 7.7% April increase in unit vehicle sales. Gasoline service station sales fell 0.8% (-14.6% y/y), marking the sixth consecutive monthly decline.
Sales of nonstore retailers strengthened 1.2% (8.0% y/y) last month following a 0.4% gain. General merchandise store sales rose 0.9% (4.3% y/y) and reversed the March decline. Within that category, department store sales declined 1.1% (-1.4% y/y) after falling 1.7% in March.
Building materials & garden equipment store sales rose 0.5% (-3.7% y/y) after falling 3.8% in March. Elsewhere, sales were soft. Sporting goods, hobby & book store sales plunged 3.3% (5.4% y/y) after a 0.7% March decline. Furniture & home furnishing store sales were off 0.7% (-6.4% y/y) after they fell 2.0% in March. Electronics and appliance store sales declined 0.5% (-7.3% y/y) following a 0.3% weakening in March. Also falling were apparel sales which were off 0.3% (-2.3% y/y) following a 1.4% March decline.
In the nondiscretionary sales categories, health & personal care store sales rose 0.9% (7.9% y/y) after a 0.4% March rise. Food & beverage store sales eased 0.2% last month (+3.7% y/y) after a similar weakening in March.
Consumer spending at restaurants & drinking places improved 0.6% last month (9.4% y/y) after rising 0.3% in March. Retail Sales data can be found in Haver's USECON database. The expectations figures are from the Action Economics Forecast Survey in AS1REPNA.
Tom Moeller
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Prior to joining Haver Analytics in 2000, Mr. Moeller worked as the Economist at Chancellor Capital Management from 1985 to 1999. There, he developed comprehensive economic forecasts and interpreted economic data for equity and fixed income portfolio managers. Also at Chancellor, Mr. Moeller worked as an equity analyst and was responsible for researching and rating companies in the economically sensitive automobile and housing industries for investment in Chancellor’s equity portfolio. Prior to joining Chancellor, Mr. Moeller was an Economist at Citibank from 1979 to 1984. He also analyzed pricing behavior in the metals industry for the Council on Wage and Price Stability in Washington, D.C. In 1999, Mr. Moeller received the award for most accurate forecast from the Forecasters' Club of New York. From 1990 to 1992 he was President of the New York Association for Business Economists. Mr. Moeller earned an M.B.A. in Finance from Fordham University, where he graduated in 1987. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from George Washington University.
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