U.S. retail sales pushed higher last month, as they beat forecasts in the face of inflationary pressures, but this may be due to one-time factors.
American consumers continue to spend despite persistently high inflation, as retail and food services sales in January rose 3 percent, for a total of $697 billion, according to Feb. 15th data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
This tops the market’s forecast for a 1.9 percent increase in sales, which saw the largest jump since March 2021.
Consumer spending makes up about two-thirds of all U.S. economic activity, as almost every single sales category shot up for the first time since the pandemic last month. Excluding cars, sales rose 2.3 percent according to the report, which is not adjusted for inflation….