Retail sales in the United States surged much more than anticipated in January after a surprising drop the month before, showing that demand remains hardy despite inflated prices.
Retail sales ticked up 3.8% in January, above consensus expectations of a more modest 2.1% increase, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. The new numbers come after a disappointing December report, which found that retail sales dropped by a revised 2.5%.
The numbers are a bit surprising, considering that inflation has continued to outpace expectations. A report for the month of January found that consumer prices increased by 7.5% — the fastest annual rate in four decades.“The Omicron virus did nothing, absolutely nothing, to keep the consumer away from the shops and malls across the country,” said FWDBONDS chief economist Christopher Rupkey. “Ditto for the stock market turbulence.
During January, the omicron variant of COVID-19 was raging, pushing the daily average cases in the U.S. to an all-time high of above 800,000 in mid-January. Since then, cases have fallen precipitously and are approaching pre-omicron levels. Hospitalizations and deaths are also down by double digits from two weeks ago.
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