The Commerce
Department reported on Monday that sales at U.S. retailers climbed 0.7 per cent
m-o-m in March, following an upwardly revised 0.9 per cent m-o-m jump (from +0.6
per cent m-o-m) in February.
Economists had expected
total sales would increase 0.3 per cent m-o-m in March.
According to
the report, the March surge in total retail sales was due to increases in 8 of
all 13 retail categories, led by non-store retailers (+2.7 per cent m-o-m), miscellaneous
store retailers (+2.1 per cent m-o-m), and gasoline stations (+2.1 per cent
m-o-m).
Excluding auto,
retail sales soared 1.1 per cent m-o-m in March after an upwardly revised 0.6
per cent gain m-o-m (from +0.3 per cent m-o-m) in the previous month, exceeding economists’ forecast
of a 0.4 per cent m-o-m advance. This was the strongest increase since January
2023 (+2.6 per cent m-o-m).
In y-o-y terms,
U.S. retail sales surged 4.0 per cent in March after an upwardly revised 2.1
per cent rise (from +1.5 per
cent) in the previous month. This marked the fastest annual increase in retail
sales in three months.