Why the surge in retail sales is not as good as it looks A peek under the hood suggest retail sales are growing but slowing.
The big burst in sales at U.S. retailers in January was a good sign for the economy, but the increase was not as hot as it looked.
Retail sales sizzled 3.8% last month, the government said Wednesday. Taken at face value, it was the biggest advance since the Biden administration sent out stimulus checks last spring.
Yet the rebound in sales came after a sharp 2.5% decline in December. So some of the increase in last month was just payback after poor results at the end of last year.
Not only that, soaring inflation also accounted for part of the increase in retail sales. Consumer prices jumped 0.6% in January, which means Americans are paying more for the same amount of goods and services.
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