The retail sales report for May was a nice surprise. Retail sales rose a solid 0.5 percent. Auto sales did give a boost to the total, but taking auto sales out of the equation, 0.4 percent is still a solid rise. Gasoline’s higher prices also gave a boost to the sales report, but excluding auto and gas, sales still come in plus 0.3 percent.
Building materials were weak, down 1.8 percent for the third straight monthly decline. General merchandise was also down in the month, also sales at department stores.
The median forecast of 81 economists surveyed by Bloomberg projected 0.3 percent advance in sales.
The USD rose to 94.79 on the news of the May retail sales. The strong May sales report indicates that consumer spending will help boost economic growth in the second quarter.
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