News Bureau

US January retail up by 2.7%

Retail sales in January increased 0.2 percent seasonally adjusted over December and were up 2.7 percent unadjusted year-over-year, the National Retail Federation said today. The numbers exclude automobile dealers, gasoline stations and restaurants.

“The strength of consumer spending continues to be the anchor of the current economic expansion,” NRF Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz said. “January’s retail sales results reflect a confident consumer supported by solid wage growth and job gains. While the business sector continues to weigh significant uncertainties, consumers are providing staying power for U.S. economic growth. We are starting the year on a strong footing.”

January’s results build on increases of 0.3 percent month-over-month and 6.3 percent year-over-year in December. As of January, the three-month moving average was up 3.5 percent over the same period a year ago, compared with 3.9 percent in December.

NRF’s numbers are based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau, which said today that overall January sales – including auto dealers, gas stations and restaurants – were up 0.3 percent seasonally adjusted from December and up 4.4 percent unadjusted year-over-year. Online and other non-store sales were up 7 percent year-over-year and up 0.3 percent month-over-month seasonally adjusted.

In the row, Ronnie VanderLinden, President- IDMA said to their members, “Some seven weeks after the 2019 holiday season, we hear that the retail jewelry market in the US - still the largest in the world - did perform well over the holidays, (YAY!) and reports from the US diamond market indicate that January sales did well, and retailers have been supplementing their inventories. That is really good news!

Yet, we know the diamond world is a global community, and in Asia, due to COVID-19 (the Coronavirus), we can expect the global diamond market to suffer a bit of a setback. How much of an impact the current health crisis will have on the market, and for how long the results of that impact will reverberate, it’s anybody’s guess.”

What's your reaction? 0% 0% 0%