More Insight on January Retail Sales Reports
By Evan Clark and Kristi Ellis | Source: Women’s Wear Daily
Apparel and accessories specialty stores saw sales advance 1.4 percent from December, driven in part by clearance of holiday merchandise, while the struggling department store sector registered a 1.1 percent decline. Compared with a year earlier, sales at apparel and accessories stores dipped 0.1 percent to $18.8 billion and department store sales fell 4.8 percent to $17.1 billion. The overall retail sales got a boost from a 2 percent rise at gasoline stations and higher car sales.
Despite the sales gain last month, Brian Bethune, U.S. economist at Global Insight, said the first quarter could still be a tough one with February sales reports tilting toward the weak side and consumer confidence declining.
“We still expect real consumption spending to track below 1 percent in the first quarter,” Bethune said in an analysis. “Real consumption spending is in the process of slowing down further. Combined with another very large negative contribution from housing investment, this will ultimately lead to a negative real [gross domestic product] growth rate in the first quarter.”
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