After the colossal disappointment last month (which BofA’s omniscient analysts forewarned), February’s consensus expects a considerable rebound in retail sales (though BofA’s team – once again – are more downbeat)…
BofA retail sales preview based on real-time card spending data: not pretty pic.twitter.com/avlFVTHDe0
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) March 17, 2025
Following last month’s 0.9% MoM plunge, which was revised down a 1.2% MoM drop, February saw retail sales disappoint (rising just 0.2% MoM vs +0.6% MoM exp)…
Source: Bloomberg
Food Services & Gas Stations saw the biggest drop in nominal sales…
Core retail sales met expectations (+0.3% MoM) but also saw downward revisions…
Source: Bloomberg
Adjusted roughly for inflation,. real retail sales is basically flat year-over-year…
Source: Bloomberg
Finally, on the bright side, Retail Sales Control Group – which is used for GDP calculations – surged 1.0% MoM in February (more than double the 0.4% rise expected), after puking a revised lower 1.0% MoM in January…
Source: Bloomberg
So,while headline sentiment may be weak, this is a solid report for signaling economic growth.
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