US Retail Sales Soar 1.4%

2025-04-16 12:32 By Joana Taborda 1 min. read

Retail sales in the US jumped 1.4% mom in March 2025, following a 0.2% gain in February and slightly better than forecasts of 1.3%.

It marked the largest increase in retail sales since January 2023, driven by a 5.3% increase in motor vehicle and parts sales, as consumers appeared to rush purchases ahead of impending auto tariffs.

Excluding autos, retail sales were up 0.5%.

Increases were also seen at building material & garden equipment (3.3%); sporting goods, hobby, musical instrument, & book stores (2.4%); food services & drinking places (1.8%); electronics & appliance (0.8%); miscellaneous store retailers (0.7%); health & personal care stores (0.7%); general merchandise stores (0.6%); clothing (0.4%); and food & beverage stores (0.2%).

On the other hand, retail sales declined at gasoline stations (-2.5%) and furniture stores (-0.7%).

Meanwhile, sales excluding food services, auto dealers, building materials stores and gasoline stations, which are used to calculate GDP, were up 0.4%.



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