Retail sales rose 0.4% in April, missing Wall Street estimates

Retail sales rose 0.4% in April, representing only half the growth Wall Street expected from the previous month.

Economists had forecast sales to rise 0.8% from the previous month after a sharp drop in March. That decline was revised to -0.7% after initially coming in at a 1% drop.

Excluding gas station and auto sales, retail sales rose 0.6% in April. Six of the 13 categories highlighted in the publication saw declines from a month ago. Sporting goods and entertainment saw the biggest decline of any category, falling 3.3% from last month and 5.4% from last year. Furniture and home furnishings stores were down 0.7% from last month and 6.4% from April last year. Growth at other store retailers and non-store retailers, which includes online sales, helped keep total sales higher than the previous month.

“Consumers are more selective in their purchases but still prefer to spend,” Oxford Economics Lead US Economist Oren Klachkin wrote Tuesday. “A stronger-than-expected handover to Q2 indicates that the main engine of GDP growth continues to hum. However, as storm clouds gather on the horizon, we think consumer spending will soon run out of steam.”

“We expect a weak labor market, depleted excess savings buffers, tighter credit standards and higher prices to reduce consumers’ willingness to spend in H2.”

The report, released by the Commerce Department, provides a snapshot of consumer spending at a time when the Federal Reserve is raising interest rates to control inflation. Retail sales rose in April as consumer prices rose at their fastest pace in two years during the month.

See also  [Video] We saw Samsung's 140-inch Micro LED TV at CES 2024

Shopping carts are wheeled out of a Target store during Black Friday sales on November 26, 2021 in Brooklyn, New York, United States. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

The report comes amid a week of highly anticipated quarterly results from retailers. Home Depot reported worse-than-expected earnings Tuesday morning as revenue fell 4.2% from the same quarter last year.

Home Depot CEO Ted Decker said, “The company expects fiscal 2023 to be a moderate year for the home improvement market.”

Target ( TGT ) TJX ( TJX ) Walmart ( WMT ) and Alibaba ( BABA ) are all expected to report later in the week.

Josh is a Yahoo Finance reporter.

Click here for in-depth analysis including the latest stock market news and stock moving events

Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance

JP Morgan expects to cut the base rate by 100 basis points this year

At the start of the month Wall Street was hopeful—but not convinced—that it would get a much-anticipated interest rate cut in September. Fed Chairman Jerome...

There are great players and potential matches

NFL Guardian Here's what we know about Caps right nowGuardian caps provide added protection over the helmets of players in inherently violent sports. Are...

Nasdaq falls as investors put their time ahead of Nvidia earnings

Shares of Coles ( KSS ) rose as much as 7% in early trading after the company beat Wall Street's revenue expectations by 15...

Dinosaur footprints found on two continents match

The video shows a large dinosaur with identical green bonesThe 150-million-year-old bones discovered in Utah will go on display at the Natural History Museum...

HMD’s Barbie Flip Phone is tough

HMD's Barbie-branded flip phone may be a bit late to catch the hot foldable summer wave, but it's certainly not lacking in appeal. Pre-announced...

Mark Zuckerberg says White House pressured Facebook to censor Covid-19 content | Meta

Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg has said he is bowing to what he says is pressure from the US government to censor Facebook and Instagram...