Washington, DC
The Sunday Review
—
US retail spending fell in March as consumers Pull away back The banking crisis has fueled fears of recession.
Retail The sales are not adjusted to inflation or seasonality. fell The 1% in March Commerce Department on Friday reported that sales were down by 0.2% from last month. According to Refinitiv this was a steeper decline than expected (0.4%), and higher than the revised 0.2% decrease. in Prior month
Investors blame a shortage of tax returns as well as concerns about the slowdown in the labor market for some of this weakness. The IRS issued $84 Billion in Tax refunds are available for this year. MarchAround $25 billion less in comparison to the amount they had issued in March Analysts at BofA estimate that the world will have reached 2022 by then.
This led consumers The following are some of the ways to get in touch with us: pull back in spending Shop for durables and department stores as Appliances and furniture. General merchandise spending fell 3% in March From the previous month spending Gas station sales fell by 5.5% in the same time period. Retail sales exclude gas stations. spending Recession 0.6% in March From February.
Retail is a good example. spending The increase in the price per unit was 2.9%.
Tax returns that were smaller likely played a factor in last month’s decline in Economists believe that retail sales will increase along with expiration of the enhanced benefits for food assistance.
“March is a really important month for refunds. Some folks might have been expecting something similar to last year,” Aditya Bhave, Senior US Economist at BofA Global Research told The Sunday Review.
Card de crédit and debit spending Bank of America Researchers tracked per household in March The slowest speed in The average wage increase was slower than the two-year period, likely due to a combination of lower returns, expired benefits and slower wage growth.
The Supplemental Nutrition Program’s enhanced pandemic benefits have expired in It is possible that February was also held back spending in MarchA Bank of America Institute Report says that.
The average hourly wage grew by 4.2% in March from a year earlier, down from the prior month’s annualized 4.6% increase and the smallest annual rise since June 2021, according to figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Employment Cost Index data, which is a more complete measure of wage growth, shows that the gains in worker wages over the past year have also moderated. The ECI for this first quarter will be published later in the month.
Even though the US labour market has been losing momentum, it remains strong. It could be a problem for consumers. spending in Michelle Meyer is the North America chief economist for Mastercard Economics Institute. She said that she expects things to get better in the months ahead.
“The big picture is still favorable for the consumer when you think about their income growth, their balance sheet and the health of the labor market,” Meyer said
Employers add 236,000 jobs in MarchIt is a solid gain by historic standards, but less than the monthly job growth average in The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the Bureau of Labor Statistics found more jobs available in the last six months. JOLTS, the monthly survey of Job Openings, Labor Turnover, and Unemployment, revealed that there are still large numbers of jobs. in February — but was down more than 17% from its peak of 12 million in March The revised data for 2022 showed that the weekly US unemployment benefit claims were higher than reported previously.
Job market cooling could continue in The coming months. Federal Reserve economists expect the US to enter a recession in the coming months. in The year as Lagged effects of increased interest rates become more pronounced. Fed economists predicted subdued economic growth with the risk of recession before Silicon Valley Bank collapsed and Signature Bank.
The following are some of the ways to improve your own ability. consumers, the effects of last month’s turbulence in The banking industry has been relatively limited. University of Michigan consumer surveys show that sentiment towards banks has deteriorated. in March The economy was already showing signs that it would be in decline even before the failure of banks.
Consumer sentiment remained stable in the latest reading released on Friday. in Gas prices rose by 1 full point in April, despite the financial crisis. The inflation expectation for this year was raised from 3.6% to 4.0%. in March 4% in April.
“On net, consumers did not perceive material changes in the economic environment in April,” Joanne Hsu is the director of surveys. consumers The University of Michigan said in News releases are a good example.
“Consumers are expecting a downturn, they’re not feeling as dismal as they were last summer, but they’re waiting for the other shoe to drop,” Hsu told Bloomberg TV in An interview on Friday morning.
The context of this story and the details have been added.
