US retail sales fall for 3 months in a row
Print Edition
US retail sales unexpectedly fell for a third straight month in February as harsh weather kept consumers from automobile showrooms and shopping malls, which could hurt growth prospects for the first quarter.
Snowy and cold weather and the now-settled labor dispute at the country’s West Coast ports, which disrupted the supply chain, hurt economic activity early in the year, but the slowdown in growth is seen temporary against the backdrop of a rapidly firming labor market.
The Commerce Department said yesterday that retail sales shed 0.6 percent after declining 0.8 percent in January.
The decline in sales last month was fairly broad-based, suggesting that bad weather that blanketed the country in the second half of February could have been a factor.
It was the first time since 2012 that sales had dropped for three consecutive months. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast retail sales increasing 0.3 percent last month.
The persistent weakness in retail sales caused traders to anticipate that the Federal Reserve would not raise interest rates in June, as widely expected by many economists.
Retail sales excluding automobiles, gasoline, building materials and food services were flat after a 0.1 percent dip in January.
The so-called core retail sales correspond most closely with the consumer spending component of gross domestic product.
The second straight month of weakness in the core reading since the start of the year suggests a marked slowdown in consumer spending in the first quarter after the fourth quarter’s surge.
Economists had hoped core retail sales would rise 0.4 percent. February’s weak reading could see economists lowering their first-quarter GDP growth estimates.
First-quarter growth forecasts currently range between an annualized pace of 1.7 percent and 2.5 percent. The economy grew at a 2.2 percent pace in the fourth quarter.
A separate report from the Labor Department showed initial claims for state unemployment benefits declined 36,000 to a seasonally adjusted 289,000 for the week ended on Saturday.
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