WASHINGTON, May 17 (Reuters) – U.S. retail sales rose sharply in April as expected, helped by improved supply and restaurant footfall despite inflation. high, show figures released Tuesday by the Commerce Department.
They report a 0.9% increase in sales last month, a figure in line with expectations, after an increase revised to 1.4% in March, against +0.7% initially announced.
Estimates from economists and analysts polled by Reuters ranged between +0.2% and +2.0%.
Retail sales excluding automobiles, fuels, building materials and catering services rose by 1.0% in April after rising by 1.1% (revised) in March.
This category is closest to the component of household consumption expenditure entering into the calculation of gross domestic product (GDP). Its sustained growth last month suggests that household consumption remained dynamic at the start of the second quarter, a trend that is also drawn by the figures on credit and debit card payments published by several banks.
In the first quarter, household consumption had limited the contraction of GDP, estimated at 1.4% at an annualized rate due to the widening of the trade deficit and the slowdown in the restocking of businesses.
(Report Lucia Mutikani, French version Marc Angrand)
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