US retail sales grow by more than twice as much as expected in March
Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
$85.11
09:39 08/11/24
Retail sales in the U.S. grew more than twice as quickly as expected last month amid big increases at non-store retailers and for gasoline.
Dow Jones I.A.
44,153.99
04:30 15/10/20
According to the Department of Commerce, in seasonally adjusted terms, retail sales volumes jumped at a month-on-month pace of 0.7% in March to reach $709.6bn.
Economists had penciled-in a rise of 0.3%.
The prior month's increases was also revised higher, by three tenths of a percentage point to 0.9%.
Sales were even stronger when those of automobiles and parts, as well as at gasoline stations were excluded, growing by 1.0%.
Non-store retailers saw especially strong demand, with sales up by 2.7% versus February, while those at gasoline stations rose by 2.1%.
Automobiles and parts dealers on the other hand saw sales drop by 0.7% and those of clothing and sporting goods experienced declines of 1.6% and 1.8%, respectively.
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