Last month’s retail sales, released April 15 by the U.S. Commerce Department’s Census Bureau, closed out a first quarter that has been much more of a boon for retailers than many observers expected.
The year-over-year increase in March — 5.3% among the sectors covered by Retail Dive — was notable not just for surpassing expectations but also for beating inflation, thereby representing true demand for goods. Moreover, the federal government upgraded its numbers for the prior months as well.
Inflation reached 3.5% in March, slightly above February’s 3.2%. In addition to labor market improvements — the U.S. economy added hundreds of thousands of jobs in February and March — average hourly earnings for private-sector workers grew 4.1% year over year in March and 4.3% in February, UBS analyst Michael Lasser noted.
