Retail sales plunge way more than expected

Mike “Mish” Shedlock's Sitka Pacific Capital Management,Llc

Economists missed the mark badly this month on retail sales estimates.

The Commerce Department posted miserable Retail Sales Numbers for April.

Retail sales declined 16.4% vs Econoday Expectations of an 11.2% decline. Excluding autos, the miss was much bigger.

Ex-auto sales declined 17.2% compared to the expected 8.6% decline.

Commerce department statement

Due to recent events surrounding COVID-19, many businesses are operating on a limited capacity or have ceased operations completely.

Advance Retail Sales

Clothing was down a whopping 78.8%, electronics 60.6%, Gasoline 28.8%. From a year ago, clothing was down 89.3%.

Even grocery store sales were down, a surprise to me.

The one bright spot was nonstore retailers such as Amazon, up 8.4%.

No V-shaped recovery

Despite talk from hopers, even the fed understands there will not be a V-Shaped recovery.

Instead they are promoting a helicopter drop of money. For details, please see Panic Sets In: Fed Promotes More Free Money

Author

Mike “Mish” Shedlock's

Sitka Pacific Capital Management,Llc

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