Earlier today, when looking at BofA’s internal credit and debit card data, we warned to expect a miss in retail sales:
And, sure enough, the actual spending data once again did not disappoint when moments ago the Census reported April retail sales which, well, did disappoint across the board:
- Retail Sales up 0.4%, missing expectations of +0.6%, up from an upward revised 0.1%
- Retail sales up 4.5% Y/Y, down from 5.2% in April
- Retail sales less autos rose 0.3% in April, est. 0.5%, unchanged from last month’s revised 0.3%
- Retail sales ex-auto dealers, building materials and gasoline stations rose 0.2% in April
- Retail sales ‘control group’ rose 0.2% m/m in April
Visually:
While increases were posted across most sectors, they were uninspiring with the exception of online sales. aka “nonstore retailers” which rose 1.4% in April, and are up a whopping 11.9% Y/Y
And now, bring on the downward revisions to Q2 GDP.
