US Retail Sales Rise in February

The figures suggest the world’s largest economy is gaining in strength after suffering the third-coldest winter on record.

Retailers reported that sales rose 0.3% in the month, the US Commerce Department said, after falling by a revised 0.6% in January.

The figure beat economists’ forecasts for a more modest rise of 0.2%.

Last month’s rebound almost brought retail spending back to its December levels. Over the past 12 months, retail sales have risen 1.5%.

The unusually cold winter, combined with heavier than usual snowfall, caused widespread disruption at the end of last year and continued to do so into the first half of February.

The cold weather continued to help sales of building materials and garden equipment, which increased 0.3% as consumers bought snow shovels, on top of a 1.4% rise in the sector in January.

via BBC

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Alfonso Esparza

Alfonso Esparza

Senior Currency Analyst at Market Pulse
Alfonso Esparza specializes in macro forex strategies for North American and major currency pairs. Upon joining OANDA in 2007, Alfonso Esparza established the MarketPulseFX blog and he has since written extensively about central banks and global economic and political trends. Alfonso has also worked as a professional currency trader focused on North America and emerging markets. He has been published by The MarketWatch, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and The Globe and Mail, and he also appears regularly as a guest commentator on networks including Bloomberg and BNN. He holds a finance degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) and an MBA with a specialization on financial engineering and marketing from the University of Toronto.
Alfonso Esparza