Weak US retail sales in April signal soft rebound in consumption

US retail sales were flat in April, in line with consensus (0.0%) expectations. Gasoline station sales were down 0.7% on the month and motor vehicles and parts fell by 0.4%. 

The weakness in April core sales was mitigated somewhat by an upward revision to March data. Core retail sales in March are now reported as rising by 0.5% m/m versus 0.3% as originally reported. Yet, February core sales were revised lower to show a decline of 0.4% versus a 0.2% drop previously.

"On net, these revisions are largely offsetting in terms of Q1 activity, leaving us with downside risk to our Q2 forecast for growth in private consumption. Taking into account revisions to previous data we are now tracking private consumption growth of 2.0% and real GDP growth of -0.6% in Q1." - notes Barclays Capital