‘I’m Not Dead Yet,’ Shouted The US Consumer

"I'm not dead yet!", shouted the US consumer. Retail sales rose more than expected in January, perhaps allaying some fears of a sharp slowdown in spending across the world's largest economy which, like me during the Balvenie years, lives and dies by consumption. Sales rose 3.8% in January, nearly double consensus (figure below). The range of forecasts, from six-dozen economists, was 0.3% to 5.5%. December's already poor showing was revised lower still, to a 2.5% drop. But fears of Omicron s