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  • Retail sales rebounded in February amid higher gas prices

    From cnn.com

    Spending at US retailers rebounded last month as Americans shelled out more for gasoline. Retail sales at stores, online and in restaurants rose 0.6% in February, up from January’s revised 1.1% decline, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. That was slightly below economists’ expectations. The figures are adjusted for seasonal swings but not inflation. January’s sharp decline was mostly attributed to the cold weather keeping consumers hunkered down at home. The broader US economy remains on strong footing, with employers continuing to hire and Americans still raking in strong wage gains. Retail spending ... (full story)

  •  Guest
  • | IP XX.XX.142.179
Retail sales , adjusted for inflation, are at 0 % for 24 consecutive months. So retail sales are flat for 24 months, dollar spending is up only because inflation prices are higher. We pay more $ for the same number of items. Anyone who thinks the consumer is strong is nuts.
  •  Guest
  • | IP XX.XX.142.179
Restaurant sales and traffic are at lowest levels since the Great depression. ( Except for Covid yrs)
  •  Guest
  • | IP XX.XX.228.208
Quoting Guest
Restaurant sales and traffic are at lowest levels since the Great depression. ( Except for Covid yrs)
I am not sure I follow your logic. It is entirely possible that I am mis-reading the report, but where are you getting your numbers? From what I see......

From the actual report: January Non-adjusted "Restaurants and other eating places = $75,629". 2023 was less. If you go back to the first year of the reporting spreadsheet (1995), you see an average of $16838 per month.

Adjusted January "Food services and drinking places = $92,885". Higher than most months last year. If you go back to the first year of the report (1995), the monthly average is $19434.
Quoting Guest
Retail sales , adjusted for inflation, are at 0 % for 24 consecutive months. So retail sales are flat for 24 months, dollar spending is up only because inflation prices are higher. We pay more $ for the same number of items. Anyone who thinks the consumer is strong is nuts.
Exactly!
  •  Guest
  • | IP XX.XX.228.208
Quoting woody70
{quote} Exactly!
But, isn't the general argument that the spending during COVID was "through the roof" due to stimulus $? People (not necessarily you of course) claim that the continual printing of money drove inflation higher due to all of the consumption (though not on travel/entertainment, for obvious reasons).

If the contention is that the consumer was stronger during that period than any in recent history, and if the retail sales have been "flat" for 24 months, adjusted for inflation, couldn't one argue that the consumer is STILL the strongest it has been in recent history?

I get confused by arguments stating everything is "weak" today when we are at similar levels to all-time highs in various categories used by those same people to assert a position.
  •  Guest
  • | IP XX.XXX.125.78
Quoting Guest
{quote} I am not sure I follow your logic. It is entirely possible that I am mis-reading the report, but where are you getting your numbers? From what I see...... From the actual report: January Non-adjusted "Restaurants and other eating places = $75,629". 2023 was less. If you go back to the first year of the reporting spreadsheet (1995), you see an average of $16838 per month. Adjusted January "Food services and drinking places = $92,885". Higher than most months last year. If you go back to the first year of the report (1995),...
From " Mornings with Maria", watch the panel talk after the numbers were released today. Clip is titled " We maybe facing a second wave of inflation."
https://www.foxbusiness.com/shows/mornings-with-maria
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  •  Guest
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