Retail sales decreased more strongly than expected in the United States last month, according to official data published Tuesday, demonstrating that the leading sectors have a flash as a car, construction and catering. According to data published by the Ministry of Commerce, retail sales fell 0.9% more than a month in May, reaching $ 715.4 billion.
Analysts were waiting for a less marked retirement, 0.6%, according to the consensus published by Marketwatch. The US economy, generally driven by household consumption, is affected by customs duties established by President Donald Trump from his return to power in January.
Sellers of car and spare parts have experienced the highest fall (-3.5% sales for a month), followed by the DIY maintenance and garden maintenance sector (-2.7%). Restaurants and drinks have also seen their turnover fall (-0.9%). In the name of the defense of national production, President Trump quickly imposed new customs tariffs on cars and imported parts, pushing consumers to buy in advance at the beginning of the year, before prices increase.
“There is no generalized perspective”
“The Americans who bought cars in March before Customs’ tasks remained away from the dealers in May,” said Heather Long, economist of the Federal Credit Union Bank. “Families are concerned with seeing that prices increase and begin to be more selective in their expenses. (…) People are looking for good offers and are ready to postpone their passage to payment,” he considers in a note.
For Michael Pearce, Oxford Economics economist, “customs duties have had a net impact on planning important expenses.” However, he adds: “There is no general decrease in consumption spending.” Such possibility would give even more grain to the managers of the American Federal Reserve (FED), which began on Tuesday and until Wednesday, their traditional monetary policy meeting. A status quo is expected in interest rates at the end.
“This publication is an alert signal for the Fed, however, it is not enough to put it in relaxation mode” on the rates, it estimates in a note Carl Weinberg, HFE economist.
It emphasizes that retail sales are just a fraction of consumer spending, “dominated by services and the avant -garde of housing.” Another indicator, published on Tuesday by the Fed, is also shown in Declive in May. Therefore, industrial production fell 0.2% compared to the previous month, a slightly more marked fall than expectations (-0.1%). The main decrease refers to the sector of the provision of public services of public services (gas, electricity, water), with -2.9%.
Source: BFM TV
