WASHINGTON– Retail sales in the United States barely recovered in May, while April sales were revised downwards, a clear sign that consumption remains stagnant amid inflation unprecedented in three years and high interest rates.
U.S. household spending was about $703.1 billion in May, just 0.1% higher than April, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday.
Analysts expected an increase of 0.2%, according to the Market Watch consensus.
Data for April, which had initially been stable with a decrease compared to March, was also revised downwards, recording a contraction of 0.2%.
“Given the slowdown in job growth and falling savings, as well as the continued pressure to spend smarter posed by inflation, it is not surprising that retail sales are faring worse,” said Robert Frick, an economist. from the Navy Federal Credit Union financial institution.
Compared to retail sales in 2023, which remained at negligible levels, they “grew” or rather recovered by 2.3%.
Sales in contraction
Retail sales fell 0.8% in January, compared with December’s pace, when they rose an adjusted 0.4%, according to the U.S. Commerce Department report released Thursday.
Excluding sales from car dealers and gas stations, sales fell 0.5%. This decline was larger than the 0.10% drop economists were expecting, and is the lowest monthly figure since March of last year.
Economists expected Americans to reduce their spending late last year, under the weight of credit card debt and the evaporation of their savings with soaring prices for three years.
Buyers slowed their spending in January, stifled by high prices that rose even further that same month. The fact contradicts what the Federal Reserve reports about the considerable reduction in inflation.
Sales at clothing and accessories stores fell 0.2%. Those from construction materials suppliers and suppliers fell 4.1%, reflecting a still weak housing market. General merchandise store sales were unchanged. Online sales fell 0.8%. Those of restaurants increased 0.7%
Core consumer inflation in the United States rose to 3.9% in 12 months, but economists affirm that this figure does not correspond to the reality suffered by the majority of Americans.
The figure is below the inflation peak of 9.1% in mid-2022, but well above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target, at a time when public frustration with inflation – after three years of financial cornering – is a decisive issue in the electoral campaign in the United States, in which former President Donald Trump seeks the Presidency again amid the chaos created by the Biden administration and its minimal support.
Source: With information from AFP.
