Companies and Brands
April Retail Sales Much Better Than Expected; Could GDP Be Better?
Published:
Last Updated:
Retail sales rose more than expected in the month of April. The Commerce Department reported that overall sales rose by 0.1%, and ex-autos they fell by 0.1%. Bloomberg was calling for a drop on the headline retail sales data of 0.3% and Dow Jones was calling for a drop of 0.4%.
Note that March saw a downward revision to -0.5% for the headline retail sales, and this makes today’s report look even stronger. With retail sales and consumer spending accounting for close to 70% of gross domestic product, this is getting the second quarter off to a better start than most economists were projecting.
Today’s seasonally adjusted figure was $419.03 billion, and that was actually up 3.7% from a year ago in retail and food services. The decline in gasoline station spending was a sharp 4.7%, the largest one-month drop in what appeared to be at least four years. Other gains were seen in online spending, automobiles and building materials.
Stocks did tick up after the headlines dropped on the wires, but the markets are still short of positive to start off this week. DJIA futures are down 20 points to 15,048 and S&P futures are down 2.50 at 1,627.
Are You Still Paying With a Debit Card?
The average American spends $17,274 on debit cards a year, and it’s a HUGE mistake. First, debit cards don’t have the same fraud protections as credit cards. Once your money is gone, it’s gone. But more importantly you can actually get something back from this spending every time you swipe.
Issuers are handing out wild bonuses right now. With some you can earn up to 5% back on every purchase. That’s like getting a 5% discount on everything you buy!
Our top pick is kind of hard to imagine. Not only does it pay up to 5% back, it also includes a $200 cash back reward in the first six months, a 0% intro APR, and…. $0 annual fee. It’s quite literally free money for any one that uses a card regularly. Click here to learn more!
Flywheel Publishing has partnered with CardRatings to provide coverage of credit card products. Flywheel Publishing and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.
Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.
Latest from 24/7
Our expert who first called NVIDIA in 2009 is predicting 2025 will see a historic AI breakthrough.
You can follow him investing $500,000 of his own money on our top AI stocks for free.