Greg Robb on MarketWatch reports sales jumped 3.1% at gas stations, which offset weakness in several sectors as retail sales came in below economists’ expectations. Robb writes:
The numbers: Retail sales were unchanged in April, the Commerce Department said Wednesday, as sales at gas stations offset weakness in cars and several other categories.
Economists polled by the Wall Street Journal had forecast a 0.4% gain.
Sales rose 0.2% not including automobiles, in line with expectations. […]
Big picture: Consumers have pulled back some since the start of the year, but spending remains strong. Adam Posen, president of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said the tapering off of spending compared with last year isn’t surprising, given that real income growth hasn’t been as high and people are saving less.
Looking ahead: “We would caution against jumping to the conclusion that consumers are starting to crack under high interest rates, despite the disappointing retail-sales data for April, as some payback always seemed likely after the strength of control-group sales in March,” said Stephen Brown, deputy North America economist for Capital Economics. […]
“That said, revisions to earlier months still leave consumption growth looking a bit weaker than we previously thought,” he added.
Market reaction: Stocks DJIA SPX opened higher on Wednesday after the soft retail-spending data, while the 10-year Treasury yield BX:TMUBMUSD10Y was down to 4.359%, a five-week low, in morning trading.
Read more here.
