RETAIL SALES SLOWED IN FEBRUARY

Key Points:

  • Retail sales, a measure of purchases at stores, restaurants and online, rose by 0.3% in February over the month.
  • Consensus among economists was a 0.4% increase.
  • February’s 0.3% increase comes after January’s revised 4.9% increase.
  • Excluding autos, retail sales rose by 0.2% over the month.
  • Spending slowed in part due to rising costs as consumer prices advanced 0.8% in February from January and 7.9% from a year earlier.
  • The Right Facts will continue to monitor retail sales.
Source