Consumers spending fell more than expected in May, according to the latest data from the Census Bureau (CB)
- M-O-M: Advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales dropped 1.3% to $620.2 billion in May 2021.
- Y-O-Y: Retail and food service sales were up a big 28.1% when compared to the same time a year ago.
Goods were not universally down, but many of the products with the biggest price spikes have seen a drop off in spending…
- Building materials saw the biggest month-over months declines dropping 5.9% followed by miscellaneous store retailers (-5.0%), motor vehicle (-3.7%), electronics & appliances (-3.3%), and clothing (3.0%)
- Spending on clothes saw the biggest jump from April up 3.0% from last month followed by Restaurant spending & personal care (+1.8%), department stores (+1.6%), and grocery stores (1.2%)
SWING AND A MISS: Economists surveyed by the Wall Street Journal They expected that overall retail sales were going to decline 0.6% (WSJ)