Retail sales are a key component of a nation’s economic indicators. It is reckoned that domestic consumption accounts for something like 70% of US economic output, so retail sales is an important part of the picture. According to the US Commerce Department, US retail sales were up by 1.1% in March over their February level, marking the best monthly performance in the sector since September 2012, coming in ahead of analysts’ projections. The February figure itself was revised upwards from 0.3% to 0.7%.
On a year-on-year basis, March’s retail sales figure was 3.8% above the 2013 figure with total sales said to be worth $433.9 billion. The winter of 2013-14 was rated to have been the third coldest on record and it is believed that the extreme weather had a dampening effect on retail sales, notably in December and January when the monthly figures showed declines. This may have fed into the better than expected March data as shoppers ventured out again after the worst of the weather was over.
Retail sales enjoyed growth in almost all categories in March; indeed general sales at retailers such as Target, Walmart and in department stores increased by 1.9% which was the strongest monthly performance seen since before the Global Financial Crisis really kicked in, back in March 2007.
Larger ticket items such as automotive parts and new cars also saw a good monthly pick-up of 3.1%. Garden equipment sales and building material sales saw growth of 1.8% as spring took hold.
Petrol sales receipts were down by 1.3% in March and demand in the electronic goods and appliances sector fell back by 1.6%.
An interesting milestone was passed last month in that the number of jobs lost since the Global Financial Crisis was surpassed by jobs created in the private sector with 8.8 million jobs shed during the crisis being surpassed by the creation of 8.9 million jobs since the recovery licked in – the figure does not take into account the number of jobs needed to balance increases in the working population of the US, however.