Summary
Financial markets have been churning since Friday’s CPI report showed the peak of inflation was not in the rear-view mirror as many had previously thought. Weighing inflation’s impact on the economy has taken on fresh urgency, and today’s retail sales report shows what was only a modest nominal decline became a sharp decline after accounting for higher prices.
Weakness Made Worse After Inflation Adjustment
With surging inflation and the large move lower in recent sentiment readings, the weaker-than-expected outturn for retail sales isn’t too surprising. Total retail sales declined 0.3% in May compared to a month earlier with modest downward revisions to April as well. But overall, the report wasn’t as bad as it seems at first glance and came in largely as expected. READ FULL ARTICLE>>