Retail sales unexpectedly jump even as high inflation stirs back to life
Former Council of Economic Advisers Chair Kevin Hassett joins ‘Kudlow’ to discuss ‘pressure’ that could cause the Fed to increase rates as much as another percentage point.
Americans picked up the pace of spending in March even as they continued to face high interest rates and steeper prices for everyday goods.
Retail sales, a measure of how much consumers spent on a number of everyday goods including cars, food and gasoline, jumped 0.7% in March, the Commerce Department said Monday. That is much higher than the 0.3% increase forecast by LSEG economists.
Excluding the more volatile measurements of gasoline and autos, sales climbed 1% last month.
The March advance is not adjusted for inflation, meaning that consumers may be spending the same but getting less bang for their buck.
SILVER LINING OF HIGHER INTEREST RATES: SAVINGS ACCOUNT RATES
A shopper browses albums at a record store in Atlanta on Feb. 14, 2023. (Dustin Chambers/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
«The consumer is consuming, a lot,» said Jamie Cox, managing partner for Harris Financial Group. «If you were looking for an economic slowdown, you aren’t getting it.»
Consumers continued to spend at gas stations, grocery stores, building material and garden stores, bars and restaurants and health and personal care stores. They also continued to open their wallets when online shopping, with spending at non-store retailers jumping 2.7% from the previous month.
However, they pulled back their spending at electronics and appliance stores, miscellaneous retailers, clothing stores, furniture stores and sporting goods, hobby, musical instrument and book stores.
STUDENT LOAN REPAYMENTS COULD SLAM BIG-NAME RETAILERS THIS FALL
Sales rose in eight of 13 retail
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