US: Consumer spending still poised to slowdown, but not as bad as feared- Wells Fargo
Data released today showed retail sales rebounded in March 1.6%. Analysts at Wells Fargo point out that despite a run of ugly data in recent reports about the consumer, they have maintained the weakness was a soft patch and not the start of a broad retrenchment.
Key Quotes:
“Retail sales grew 1.6% in March with gains in every category save sporting goods. Motor vehicles, which have been spotty recently, increased 3.1% in March. That was the largest gain after gas stations, which rose with prices.”
“After rising at a 2.5% pace in Q4, consumer spending is poised for a slowdown in the first quarter. However, the better-than-expected 1.0% increase in control group sales in today’s report feeds into the calculation in the GDP report and suggests a more modest slowing than anticipated by many forecasters.”
“Online retailers saw declines in two out of three months in the fourth quarter, but have now seen three straight monthly gains.”
Author
Matías Salord
FXStreet
Matías started in financial markets in 2008, after graduating in Economics. He was trained in chart analysis and then became an educator. He also studied Journalism. He started writing analyses for specialized websites before joining FXStreet.
