No Spring Bounce Back for Retail Sales

The expected spring bounce in consumer spending failed to materialize last month, but all hope for the second quarter is not lost. An extremely tight labor market and rising wages did not translate into higher consumer spending in April, with retail sales slipping 0.2 percent compared with the previous month, according to new data from the Commerce Department. Economists polled by Reuters had penciled in a 0.2 gain. The less-than-rosy figures could not be blamed on volatile items like automobiles or sales through gasoline stations since sales were still down 0.2 percent when those categories were removed from the picture. Apparel and clothing accessories stores also saw sales fall 0.2 percent, although department stores bucked the trend with a 0.7 percent sales gain. Online and other nonstore sales were down 0.2 percent. Since December, the official numbers have painted a confusing backdrop, which some analysts have blamed on the partial federal government shutdown muddling data collection. December should be the strongest month of the year as consumers stock up on holiday gifts, but sales dropped 1.6 percent, while in January, which is usually a pretty somber month, retail sales swung back, only to fall again in February, confounding Wall Street’s hopes for a rise.

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