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US Retail Sales Decelerate As Gas Prices Surge
US retail sales rose 0.3% in February, data out Wednesday showed, an underwhelming performance that could exacerbate fears of an economic slowdown even as it may allay jitters around an overzealous Fed tightening cycle.
The range of estimates, from nearly six-dozen economists, was -0.7% to 1.9%. A sharp upward revision to January's already robust gain was welcome, but likely insufficient to offset an otherwise lackluster read on the consumer (figure below).
There's palpable concern about the e
I don’t the defeatist tone. We want the US consumer to stop spending so that we don’t have persistent inflation and an aggressive Fed hike cycle!