Retail sales missed expectations, but the previous month’s numbers were revised upward, according to the latest data from the Census Bureau (CB)
- M-O-M: Retail sales for April 2021 were $619.9 billion, virtually unchanged from the previous month.
- Y-O-Y: Retail sales were up 51.2% above April 2020, but those numbers are a little misleading as spending collapsed a year ago during the beginning of the pandemic.
The good news was March’s numbers were even better as they were revised upward 1.0% to 10.7%.
MISSED: Expectations were for a 1.0% month-over-month increase.
The report is probably a little misleading. While it was underwhelming it is also distorted by the government stimulus. As mentioned above, the stimulus checks helped spending jump 10.7% in March so the fact that spending remained elevated is good news. However, it is odd to see an inflation report showing growth we haven’t seen in decades and retail spending remain flat.