US Retail Sales Solid But Not Rate Hike Solid

September 11, 2015 Share Print 0

U.S. retail sales beat expectations last month with an increase of 0.6 percent in the headline figure and 0.4 percent in core retail sales (excluding auto). The forecasts are lower this time around with 0.4 percent for retail sales and 0.1 percent for core retail sales given some seasonal factors and the overall weakness of the price of gas. August sales in chain stores were weaker, but did pick up ahead of the Labor day weekend and are tracking head of last year with a growth of 1.3 percent. The Census Bureau’s Advance Report on Retail and Food Services Sales will be published on Tuesday, September 13 at 8:30 am EDT.

Lower Gas Price Expected to Lower Retail Sales in August

Retail sales has been a strong obstacle for the USD to overcome. Employment has been the strongest component pointing to a recovering U.S. economy, but the quality of the jobs has been questioned as wages have not increased. More people with jobs has not translated into more consumer spending which is what is needed to kickstart a virtuous cycle of economic growth.

U.S. Retail Sales events to watch this week:

Tuesday, September 15
8:30am USD Core Retail Sales m/m
8:30am USD Retail Sales m/m

*All times EDT
For a complete list of scheduled events in the forex market visit the MarketPulse Economic Calendar

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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.