Despite Surging Gasoline Spending, US Retail Sales Missed Big In April

For once, BofA’s analysts ‘missed’ as their expectations for a small beat in retail sales was eviscerated by a huge miss across the board.

Headline Retail sales were unchanged MoM (versus +0.4% exp) and last month’s +0.7% MoM move was revised slightly lower to +0.6% MoM.

Source: Bloomberg

Nonstore retailers and Motor Vehicle and Parts Dealers saw the biggest MoM declines while spending at Gasoline Stations rose the most (biggest MoM rise since Aug 2023)…

Source: Bloomberg

Both headline and core retail sales slowed on a YoY basis (ex-Autos and Gas Stations actually declined 0.1% MoM)…

Source: Bloomberg

Finally, the crucial core-control group – used in GDP calculation – plunged by 0.3% MoM (vs +0.1% MoM exp) – its third big miss in the last four months…

Source: Bloomberg

Not a good start for Q2 GDP.