After 3 months of missed expectations and the first consecutive drop in retail sales since Lehman, retail sales rose 0.9% in March (missing expectations of +1.1%), following a revised 0.5% drop in February. While the 0.9% rise is the biggest since March last year, this is now the worst streak of missed expectations in retail sales since 2008/9. Ex-Autos, retail sales also mised expectations (rising just 0.4% vs 0.7% exp).
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This is the worst March YoY growth in retail sales (control group) since 2009...
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The breakdown shows what we already know: courtesy of soaring non-revolving loans, auto sales spiked in March...
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... however offset by modest increases in other category, with electronics, food and online sales posting a decline. Too warm outside to spend money on Amazon.com?
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And another quick look at the control group: while rising at 0.3% in March, this was below the 0.5% expected, meaning another cut to Q1 GDP, while the annual increase of 2.4% was the lowest since last February.
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