WASHINGTON: U.S. retail sales fell more than expected in February amid bitterly cold weather across the country, but a rebound is likely as the government disburses another round of pandemic relief money to mostly lower- and middle-income households.
"We knew the economy took a major hit in February due to the brutally cold weather and a lot of snow," said Joel Naroff, chief economist at Naroff Economics in Holland, Pennsylvania."No reason to panic over the February numbers, the economy is moving forward rapidly and it should pick up the pace as the latest stimulus payout hits home."
Receipts at electronics and appliance stores dropped 1.9per cent and sales at furniture stores tumbled 3.8per cent. There were also big declines in sales at sporting goods, hobby, musical instrument and book stores. Receipts at food and beverage stores were unchanged. Sales at building material stores decreased 3.0per cent. Online retail sales plunged 5.4per cent.
"This year, we expect the combination of an improved health situation and generous fiscal stimulus to fuel a consumer boom for the history books," said Lydia Boussour, lead U.S. economist at Oxford Economics in New York. The rosy economic outlook was not dimmed by a separate report from the Fed on Tuesday showing output at factories tumbled 3.1per cent in February, also weighed down by a global semiconductor shortage because of the pandemic.
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