Retail Sales Fell Last Month

This morning’s retail sales report showed a surprising decline for September. This could indicate weakness in consumer spending. This was the first drop for retail sales in seven months,

For September, retail sales fell by 0.3%. Economists had been expecting a gain of 0.3%. On the bright side, the figure for August was revised up from 0.4% to 0.6%.

Auto sales fell 0.9% in September, the most in eight months, while receipts at service stations fell 0.7% in what likely reflects cheaper gasoline.

Withholding automobiles, gasoline, building materials and food services, retail sales were little changed in September after climbing 0.3% in August. The so-called core figure corresponds more closely to the consumer spending component of U.S. economic activity.

Last month’s drop and August’s unedited gain in core sales hint at a marked slowdown in consumer spending in the third quarter that economists had been anticipating after a surge in the prior quarter. Consumption, which comprises about 66% of the U.S. GDP activity, increased at a 4.6% annualized rate in the second quarter, the most in 1½ years.

At the end of October, we’ll get our first look at Q3 GDP.

Posted by on October 16th, 2019 at 12:35 pm


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