Having been revised up to a 1.5% growth for March (the most since March 2010), retail sales crumbled across the board in April as the promise of un-harsh weather rebounds evaporated into the reality of a one-off pent-up demand pop. All sub-series of retail sales missed expectations with Ex-Auto/Gas actually dropping 0.1%. The broad weakness was led by furniture (-0.6%) and electronics stores (-2.3%).
The broadest measure of retail sales missed...
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and ex-autos/gas saw a drop of 0.1% and its 2nd biggest miss in over a year...
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The breakdown: after sliding 1.6% in March, electronics and appliances stores tumbled -2.3% in April. Adding insult to housing contraction injury, furniture and home furnishings stores saw a -0.6% drop in April also, while miscellaneous store sales tumbled by 2.3%.
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As for the retail sales control group, yup: that is a negative print from March.
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