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Surprise fall in US retail sales Surprise fall in US retail sales
(11 minutes later)
US retail sales fell in March after two months of rises, tempering hopes that consumers are becoming more confident about the economy.US retail sales fell in March after two months of rises, tempering hopes that consumers are becoming more confident about the economy.
Sales fell by 1.1% from February, and by 9.4% compared with a year earlier. Sales fell by 1.1% from February, and by 9.4% compared with a year earlier. Many analysts had expected sales to increase after two months of rises.
Sales at electronics and appliance stores were hit hardest, falling by 5.9%. Car and auto parts dealers saw sales fall by 2.5%. Sales at electronics stores were hit hardest, falling by 5.9%. Car and auto parts dealers saw sales fall by 2.5%.
Many analysts had expected sales to rise after the encouraging figures in the first two months of the year. Producer prices also fell in March, by 1.2%, after two months of rises.
Driven by heavy discounting, sales rose by 1% in January and by 0.3% in February. 'Huge decline'
Driven by heavy discounting, retail sales had risen by 1% in January and by 0.3% in February.
"We were expecting improvement and we got a huge decline. The report was weak across the board," said Jacob Oubina at Forex.com."We were expecting improvement and we got a huge decline. The report was weak across the board," said Jacob Oubina at Forex.com.
"This throws some cold water on the idea that we're carving out a bottom," he added."This throws some cold water on the idea that we're carving out a bottom," he added.
The official estimates were released by the US Commerce Department. Falling energy and food prices were the main reason for the fall in producer prices. In fact, excluding these two sectors, prices remained unchanged.
Energy prices fell by 5.5% in the month, while food prices dropped by 0.7%.
The official sales estimates were released by the US Commerce Department. The producer price figures were released by the The Labor Department.