Updated: 15-Apr-24 09:18 ET

March Retail Sales

Updated: 15-Apr-24 09:18 ET

Highlights

• Total retail sales in March increased 0.7% month-over-month (Briefing.com consensus 0.4%) following an upwardly revised 0.9% (from 0.6%) in February.
• Excluding autos, retail sales surged 1.1% month-over-month (Briefing.com consensus 0.5%) following an upwardly revised 0.6% increase (from 0.3%) in February.

Key Factors

• Motor vehicles and parts dealer sales declined 0.7% month-over-month after increasing 2.5% in February.
• Gasoline station sales increased 2.1% month-over-month following a 1.6% increase in February.
• General merchandise store sales jumped 1.1% month-over-month following a 0.6% increase in February.
• Nonstore retailer sales surged 2.7% month-over-month following a 0.2% increase in February.
• Food services and drinking places sales rose 0.4% month-over-month following a 0.5% increase in February.
• Clothing and clothing accessories stores sales decreased 1.6% month-over-month after increasing 0.2% in February.
• Electronics and appliance stores sales fell 1.2% month-over-month after increasing 1.3% in February.
• Building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers sales jumped 0.7% month-over-month after increasing 2.3% in February.

Big Picture

• The key takeaway from the report is that the U.S. consumer, fortified by a strong job market, continued to spend freely in March in an act that will continue to support the soft landing/no landing outlook for the U.S. economy.

Category	MAR	FEB	JAN	DEC	NOV
Retail Sales	0.7%	0.9%	-0.9%	0.1%	0.0%
Excluding Autos	1.1%	0.6%	-0.6%	0.1%	-0.1%
Durable goods
Building Materials	0.7%	2.3%	-3.9%	0.9%	-1.4%
Autos/parts	-0.7%	2.5%	-2.1%	0.2%	0.3%
Furniture	-0.3%	-0.3%	0.6%	-2.2%	2.7%
Nondurable goods
General Merchandise	1.1%	0.6%	0.6%	0.7%	-0.2%
Food	0.5%	0.2%	-0.4%	-0.3%	0.3%
Gasoline stations	2.1%	1.6%	-1.1%	-0.8%	-3.7%
Clothing	-1.6%	0.2%	-0.9%	1.4%	1.2%
e*retailing/non-store	2.7%	0.2%	0.2%	1.3%	0.4%