United States: Retail sales stagnate in October
Latest reading: Nominal retail sales stagnated in seasonally adjusted month-on-month terms in October, following 0.1% growth in the prior month and slightly below market expectations.
Relative to the prior month’s figures, readings in October worsened for motor vehicle and parts dealers (-1.6% in seasonally adjusted month-on-month terms vs -0.1% in September) and gasoline stations (-0.8% vs +1.9% in September). In contrast, readings improved for food and beverages (+0.3% vs -0.1% in September), general merchandise stores (+0.5% vs +0.1% in September) and non-store retailers (+1.8% vs -0.4% in September).
In annual terms, retail sales were up 3.5% in October, following a 4.2% increase in the previous month.