US retail sales growth undershoots forecasts in April
By Alexander Bueso
Date: Friday 12 May 2017
(ShareCast News) - Americans splashed out less on consumer goods in April, primarily on furniture, clothing, general merchandise and food and beverages.
Total retail sales volumes in the States grew by 0.4% month-on-month to reach $474.9bn, according to the Department of Commerce.
In comparison to a year ago they were 4.7% higher.
Excluding automobiles and parts they were up by 0.3% to $97.14bn.
The median forecast from economists was for a rise of 0.6% on the month and an increase of 0.5% without automobiles and parts.
Autos and parts sales helped to prop up the headline number, rising by 0.7% on the month after a 0.5% drop in March.
The biggest percentage increases versus March were observed in sales of building materials, electronics and appliances, health and personal care and at non-store retailers.
Sales of furniture and home furnishing stores as well as those at clothing and clothing accessories were both lower, dropping by 0.5% in comparison to March.
After the data, Barclays Research inaugurated its Q2 tracking estimate for US gross domestic product growth at 2.5% in quarterly annualised terms.
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