President Donald Trump’s whipsawing trade spat with America’s biggest trading partners has spurred high levels of uncertainty among consumers and businesses. That skittishness has been evident across many consumer surveys and now shoppers seem to be adjusting their purchasing behavior accordingly. Retail sales account for about a third of overall spending in the US.
U.S. retail sales rebounded in February, suggesting that the economy continued to grow in the first quarter, though at a moderate pace as tariffs on imports and mass firings of federal government workers weigh on sentiment. Retail sales rose 0.2% last month after a revised 1.2% decline in January, the Commerce Department's Census Bureau said on Monday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast retail sales, which are mostly goods and are not adjusted for inflation, advancing 0.6% after a previously reported 0.9% drop in January.
U.S. retail sales rebounded in February, suggesting that the economy continued to grow in the first quarter, though at a moderate pace as tariffs on imports and mass firings of federal government workers weigh on sentiment. Retail sales rose 0.2% last month after a revised 1.2% decline in January, the Commerce Department's Census Bureau said on Monday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast retail sales, which are mostly goods and are not adjusted for inflation, advancing 0.6% after a previously reported 0.9% drop in January.
