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15 Jan 2016
US retail sales: A bad year for the sector - Wells Fargo
FXStreet (Córdoba) - According to analysts from Wells Fargo, retail sales have a very disappointing year in 2015. Today’s report showed a decline of 0.1% in December, versus expectations or marginal gains.
Key Quotes:
“Although it is true that gasoline sales continued to put downward pressure on the retail sales number, a consequence of the plunge in gasoline prices, the overall result for this important indicator for consumer demand was disappointing overall. Retail sales were up only 2.2 percent on a year-earlier basis, compared to an increase of 3.5 percent during the whole of 2014. Gasoline sales were down 1.1 percent in December and plunged 14.6 percent versus December of 2014.”
“Once again, automobile sales were in the driver seat of retail sales during the year, even if those sales slowed down to a trickle by the end of 2015 recording no change for December.”
“Perhaps the best news in this release was that the November retail sales performance was revised up from 0.2 percent 0.4 percent. However, the revision did little to change the tone of a weak fourth quarter for consumer spending.”
“With this result, it is clear that consumer demand ended the year on a weak note and thus we should expect that there would be downward revisions to personal consumption growth for the last quarter of the year. The question that remains is: where are Americans putting the stash of cash saved by low gasoline prices?”
Key Quotes:
“Although it is true that gasoline sales continued to put downward pressure on the retail sales number, a consequence of the plunge in gasoline prices, the overall result for this important indicator for consumer demand was disappointing overall. Retail sales were up only 2.2 percent on a year-earlier basis, compared to an increase of 3.5 percent during the whole of 2014. Gasoline sales were down 1.1 percent in December and plunged 14.6 percent versus December of 2014.”
“Once again, automobile sales were in the driver seat of retail sales during the year, even if those sales slowed down to a trickle by the end of 2015 recording no change for December.”
“Perhaps the best news in this release was that the November retail sales performance was revised up from 0.2 percent 0.4 percent. However, the revision did little to change the tone of a weak fourth quarter for consumer spending.”
“With this result, it is clear that consumer demand ended the year on a weak note and thus we should expect that there would be downward revisions to personal consumption growth for the last quarter of the year. The question that remains is: where are Americans putting the stash of cash saved by low gasoline prices?”