April's retail spending showed a miniscule 0.1% increase says a report released by the commerce department. The report stated that some spending was seen due to the unusually mild winter leading to correction in spring. Last month also saw a slight growth in jobs.
Another report from the government said that consumer prices in April remained unchanged after having increased continually in the last three months. The reason for no change was owed to lower costs of fuel. The inflation rate (annual) for all items was 2.6% in March which came down to 2.3% in April.
According to EquityPremier.com, the first quarter witnessed stronger retail sales however building supply market saw a decrease in spending by 1.8% in April compared to March. A similar sink was also witnessed by department stores sales with spending on clothes dropping by 1.7%. Since the beginning of 2012 fuel prices have been decreasing and so has the sales at gasoline stations which dropped by 0.3% in April. The first 3 months of the year there had been a sharp gain in this region.
Despite the slowdown in April analysts opined that consumers may suddenly pullback and the retail spending may expand by a moderate rate in sync with growth in jobs and income.
in another report from EquityPremier.com (1), their equities department cited growing strength in the consumer sector as retail sales saw acceleration in some areas, most notably in consumer apparel; of important note is the 53% growth in same store sales by Dicks Sporting Goods.