Retail sales in the US were near-flat in April, government data showed today, held back by car sales and those at gasoline stations, while consumers remained jittery about President Donald Trump’s economic policies.
Overall sales nudged up 0.1% to $724.1 billion last month, the Commerce Department said, slightly below a Briefing.com consensus forecast.
But the rate was significantly down from March’s revised growth of 1.7%, as buyers earlier sought to get ahead of Trump’s sweeping new tariffs, many of which took effect in April.
From a year ago, retail sales were still up by 5.2% in April.
Analysts had expected headline retail sales to be flat, due to a partial pullback in car sales after a jump in March.
Excluding sales at motor vehicles and parts dealers, retail sales remained at 0.1% between March and April.
Sales at gasoline stations dropped 0.5% from the previous month in April, while those at vehicles and parts dealers slipped 0.1% too.
But although analysts at Pantheon Macroeconomics anticipated other components to stay resilient, sales of clothing and at department stores slid.
The shifts came as US consumer confidence plunged last month, reflecting concerns about Trump’s tariffs on friend and foe, particularly targeting goods from China.
But in April, sales at restaurants and bars still increased 1.2%.
