US Retail Sales Beat Expectations In March With 1.4% Gain: Economist Calls Them Blowout Numbers

The Commerce Ministry said on Wednesday that advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for March rose 1.4% from the previous month, higher than the 0.2% increase in February.

According to a CNBC report, the figure came in better than the 1.2% estimated by Dow Jones.
Compared to March 2024, retail sales were up 4.6%.

Motor vehicle and parts dealers were up 8.8% from last year, while non-store retailers rose 4.8% from March 2024.

Chris Rupkey, chief economist at Fwdbonds, told CNBC that these are blow-out numbers on a net basis.

“Consumers are expecting sharply higher prices the next year and are clearing the store shelves and picking up bargains while they can,” he said.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, U.S. import prices decreased 0.1% in March following an increase of 0.2% in February, marking the first monthly drop since the index declined 0.4% in September 2024.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), lower prices for fuel imports more than offset higher prices for non-fuel imports in March.

BLS stated that import fuel prices decreased 2.3% in March following increases of 1.6% in February and 2.7% in January. The decline marked the largest monthly drop since the index fell 7.2% in September 2024.

Meanwhile, benchmark indices traded in the red on Wednesday after President Donald Trump escalated the tariff war against China by raising levies on some imports to a staggering 245%.

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY), which tracks the S&P 500, rose 0.44%, and the Invesco QQQ Trust, Series 1 (QQQ), which follows the Nasdaq Composite, gained 0.66%.

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