US DATA: Retail Sales Bounce Notably Stronger Than Expected
Feb-15 2023 13:39By: Chris Harrison
- Retail sales were notably stronger than expected in January no matter how you cut it.
- Total sales bounced 3.0% M/M (cons 2.0%) after December’s -1.1% and control group spending increased 1.7% (cons 1.0) after -0.7%, in a month that headline CPI bounced from 0.1% to 0.5% M/M as a crude proxy for a retail deflator.
- The latter’s 1.7% gain follows an almost 1% cumulative drop in the prior two months but is still noteworthy with the strongest increase since Jan’22.
- Remembering that these are all nominal, 3-month run rates for both bounce back to positive territory at +3% annualized from -4% for total and -2% for control group in December that had come in much weaker than the broader measure of consumer spending from PCE data [see chart].
