According to the United States Census Bureau, retail sales slowed in May from April, although they were better at the core.
In commenting on the numbers, National Retail Federation chief economist Jack Kleinhenz noted that core retail sales, as defined by the NRF, excluding automobiles, gas, and restaurant spending, were better than the overall. May core retail sales gained 0.1% seasonally adjusted month over month and 3.9% unadjusted year over year. NRF added that core sales advanced 4.4% year over year on a three-month moving average and 3.9% for the first five months of the year.
Recent results posted by CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor showed that May core retail sales were up 0.23% seasonally adjusted month over month and 4.2% unadjusted year over year. The numbers compared with increases of 0.9% month over month and 7.11% year over year in April.
“We’re continuing to see growth for core retail sales this year at about the same pace as last year,” NRF chief economist Jack Kleinhenz said in assessing the Census Bureau data. Despite a soft labor market, aggregate consumer spending has been supported by wage gains and an improvement in the stock market. Consumers are seeing their way through the uncertainty with trade policies, but I expect the inflation associated with tariffs to be felt later this year. Consumers remain very price sensitive, and those costs are likely to weigh heavily on consumer budgets.”
Unlike survey-based sales numbers collected by the Census Bureau, Retail Monitor uses anonymized credit and debit card purchase data compiled by Affinity Solutions.
