Retail Sales For April

While the headline number for today's retail sales report was inline with expectations (-0.2%), the ex-autos number came in stronger than forecast (+0.5% vs +0.2%).  In order to see where the strength and weakness came from, we broke out today's report by category to see which groups have seen the biggest increases and decreases in their share of the total retail sales pie.  As shown, over the last year the categories that have seen the largest increase in their share of retail sales are Gas Stations, Food and Beverage Stores, and General Merchandise.  These groups are all purveyors of non-discretionary items, indicating that rising inflation is causing consumers to spend a larger share of their disposable income on necessities. 

Groups that have seen the largest decrease in their share of total retail sales include Motor Vehicle and Parts, Building Materials, and Furniture.

While retail sales rose 2% on a year/year basis, after adjusting for inflation, sales actually declined by 1.9%.  In fact, this month's decline marks the fifth straight monthly year/year decline.  This is the longest streak of monthly declines in the last fifteen years.

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