US Retail Sales Rise Unexpectedly by 1 percent

Higher food and energy prices pushed retail sales over a 1.0% gain beating analysts expectations of a drop of 0.8%. Last month’s data was revised further downward 2.7% vs the revision of 3.0%. Some economist suggested this was due to large New Year’s discounts. The market was not swayed by the sales figure as other economic indicators continue to point to a deeper recession.

Definition from FXPedia:

Retail Sales

Provides feedback on consumer spending and is one of the first sales reports available each month. Only tracks spending on consumer goods exclusively and does not include expenditures on services such as health care and education. An increase in retails sales has a positive effect on the currency as it shows growth in the country’s economy.

The Retail Sales report is published without adjusting for inflation, so to get a true measure of real change in retail spending, you must adjust accordingly. It is not uncommon for the sales report to undergo significant revisions even after it is released as compiling accurate and complete retail sales data can be very difficult.

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