Summary
Despite rising interest rates, high inflation and product shortages, retailers reported increased spending in April and upward revisions to the prior month, which suggests a better Q1 for consumer spending than first reported.
Consumers Increase Spending in Face of Rising Costs
Amid the rollercoaster ride in financial markets over the past several weeks, one of the main concerns has been the degree to which consumer spending can hold up in the face of soaring inflation. It is inevitable that when prices grow faster than wages, at some point difficult choices will have to be made…but not today. Retail sales climbed 0.9% in April after an upwardly revised gain of 1.4% in March. We break out the inflation-adjusted figures below, but the main takeaway is that despite all the obvious reasons to expect otherwise, retail spending has continued to grow. READ FULL ARTICLE>>