January Retail Sales Miss Expectations Due to Weak Auto Sales
Tweet
Share
E-mail
Get Alerts LTD Hot Sheet
Join SI Premium – FREE
Data from the Commerce Department Tuesday showed retail sales during the month of January rose by 0.4 percent, well short of economist’s consensus of an 0.8 percent increase. The miss was largely due to a decline in auto sales. Excluding auto sales returned better-than-expected results: retail demand grew 0.7 percent, versus the consensus of a 0.5 percent increase.
December's initial reading of up 0.1 percent was revised lower to unch with this morning's report. Retail sales minus autos in December was revised from down 0.2 percent to down 0.5 percent.
Nine of the 13 major segments experienced gains in January with general merchandising stores topping the list with a 2 percent gain, the largest increase seen in five years. This is a strong indicator that people are still spending, but mostly on necessary products. Still, some individual reports demonstrated people are not afraid to spend a little. Limited (NYSE: LTD) said same-store sales rose 9 percent for the month.
Although January sales were not the strongest, February may end up making up for the difference as the Labor Department recently reported the unemployment rate fell to 8.3 percent as employers added 243,000 jobs in January, representing the biggest gain since last April.
December's initial reading of up 0.1 percent was revised lower to unch with this morning's report. Retail sales minus autos in December was revised from down 0.2 percent to down 0.5 percent.
Nine of the 13 major segments experienced gains in January with general merchandising stores topping the list with a 2 percent gain, the largest increase seen in five years. This is a strong indicator that people are still spending, but mostly on necessary products. Still, some individual reports demonstrated people are not afraid to spend a little. Limited (NYSE: LTD) said same-store sales rose 9 percent for the month.
Although January sales were not the strongest, February may end up making up for the difference as the Labor Department recently reported the unemployment rate fell to 8.3 percent as employers added 243,000 jobs in January, representing the biggest gain since last April.
Serious News for Serious Traders! Try StreetInsider.com Premium Free!
You May Also Be Interested In
- Dallas Fed Services Activity 6.6 vs 3.8 Expected
- ECB Leaves Deposit Facility Rate At 2.25%
- Wholesale Inventories (Jun P) 0.3% vs 0.4% Expected
Create E-mail Alert Related Categories
Economic Data, Retail SalesSign up for StreetInsider Free!
Receive full access to all new and archived articles, unlimited portfolio tracking, e-mail alerts, custom newswires and RSS feeds - and more!
