Retail sales account for a large part of consumer spending, which itself is typically the largest segment of GDP in an advanced economy. Changes in retail sales have a large effect on GDP growth rates and thus they are of great interest to economists, policy makers and financial markets.
US retail sales had been weak through the Christmas period and into the first couple of months in 2018 but then figures for March seemed to mark a departure from this trend. The latest April figures have added further evidence of some strength in consumer spending.
According to the latest “advance” sales numbers released by the US Census Bureau, retail sales grew by 0.3% over the month and by 4.7% when compared with the same period last year. The figures were in line with the +0.3% median expectation but lower than March’s comparable figures which were revised up from +0.6% to +0.8%.
