Retail Sales Fall In February, Marginally More Than Expected

by Vandana Singh, Benzinga Editor

March 15, 2023 9:08 AM | 1 min read |

The Census Bureau released U.S. retail and food services sales that were down 0.4% M/M compared with -0.3% consensus and 3.2% growth in January and up 5.4% above February 2022.
Total sales between December 2022 to February 2023 rose 6.4% Y/Y.
Retail trade sales were down 0.1% from January but increased 4% Y/Y.
Core retail sales, which excludes gasoline and autos, were flat at 0.0% M/M versus estimates for a 0.9% decrease and +2.8% prior (revised from +2.6%).
Tuesday, the Labor Department reported a 6% year-over-year increase in the consumer price index (CPI) for February, down from 6.4% in January.
On a month-over-month basis, CPI was up 0.4%, which was also in line with estimates. Core CPI topped expectations month-over-month, rising 0.5% against a 0.4% estimate.