Figures could reflect growing caution on customer spending patterns.
U.S. retail and food services sales fell 0.3 percent in March to $446.9 billion according to the U.C. Census Bureau reports, missing a median forecast of a 0.1 percent gain from 81 economists surveyed by Bloomberg.
Retail sales patterns are reflecting the continuing challenges for many Americans in the wake of unemployment or underemployment, even as employment figures have been slowing improving. Consumers are also being cautious with money, choosing to pay off existing debt or save rather than spend, and turning to experiences over material items when they do make purchases.
“I don’t think the consumer will spend beyond his or her means,” Gregory Daco, head of U.S. macroeconomics at Oxford Economics Ltd. in New York, told Bloomberg. “A sustained acceleration in wages is still the missing piece.”
These new trends are forcing retailers to redirect their marketing strategies and physical stores in order to offer more value to consumers through online resources and free in-store events.
Excluding auto sales, March retail purchases increased 0.2 percent and were flat in February, while total sales for January through March this year were up 2.8 percent year-over-year. Additionally, the percent change for January to February this year was also revised up to flat from a decrease of 0.1 percent.
Retail trade sales were down 0.2 percent from last month, and up 1.3 percent year-over-year. March clothing and accessories sales fell 0.9 percent, general merchandise sales rose 0.5 percent, and electronics and appliance sales rose 0.1 percent. E-commerce sales fell 0.1 percent.
“We’re having a little bit of a soft patch here for the consumer, with no obvious rationale,” Michael Feroli, chief U.S. economist at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in New York., told Bloomberg. “It’s definitely a softer start to the year. Provided job gains remain as strong as they’ve been, we expect consumer spending should be OK.”
