Retail sale is an economic indicator in the United States that keeps inventory of the demand for finished goods, by measuring the purchases of durable and non-durable goods over a defined time. It is the primary gauge of consumer spending, which accounts for the majority of the overall economic activities.
The year kicked off with gains across virtually all retail sectors, U.S. retail sales excluding auto increased 7.2% year over year, with online sales growing 10.4% compared to this time last year, even with the shadow of Omicron and elevated inflation, consumer spending was sustained by pent-up savings, wage growth and continued reopening of the economy.
Coming on the heels of the holidays, January typically marks a month of returns and exchanges, although the strong growth across sectors reviews the optimism and eagerness for the year ahead according to Steve Sadove, senior advisor for Mastercard.
The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell more than expected at 223,000 compared to the previous 239,000 as COVID-19 infections subsided, suggesting that an anticipated slowdown in job growth in January was likely temporary.
Economic growth is likely to slow abruptly in 2022, as fiscal support fades and, in the near term, virus spread weighs on services spending and prolongs supply chain disruptions, even as the Omicron COVID-19 variant’s grip on the U.S labor market is loosening.
With the consumer price index surging to 7.5% which signals a sixth quarter-percentage-point rate hike this year, and January’s Manufacturing PMI of 57.6%, Economist forecast that the US economy will grow by 2.6% (year-over-year) in 2022, however, this forecast contains some downward adjustments associated with Omicron, inflation, monetary policy, and other factors.
An increase in Retail Sales will result in US dollar Index strength while a decrease in Retail Sales will result in a US dollar Index decline.
Increased volatility is anticipated, and traders should always be aware that a volatile market presents great opportunities for making profits, as the increase can cause market swings for traders to capitalize on.
In response to the news release, trade the forex market with the following trading instruments on ACT Brokers platform, as the pair are mostly affected by the data release; EURUSD, GBPUSD, XAUUSD, USDJPY, USDCHF, AUDUSD, NZDUSD, US30, US100, USOIL, etc.
Time Schedule for Retail Sales release:
Date: Wednesday, February 16th, 2022
Time: 2:30 PM
Recent Comments