US Retail Declines in March

U.S. official statistics reveal retailers’ spending fell last March as consumers retreated after the banking crisis fueled recession fears.

For its part, the U.S. Department of Commerce reported that retail sales, adjusted for seasonality rather than inflation, fell 1% in March compared with the previous month.

That was more severe than the expected 0.4% decline, and higher than the 0.2% decline in the previous month.

Economic changes have led to consumers’ decline in spending in supermarkets and on durable goods, such as appliances and furniture.

Public store spending fell 3% in March from the previous month, and retail spending fell 0.6% in March compared to February.

However, retail spending rose 2.9% year-on-year.

On the other hand, the average hourly wage in the United States grew to 4.2% in March from a year earlier, down from the previous month’s 4.6% annual increase and the lowest annual increase since June 2021.