What to expect from US retail sales?

After the announcement of inflation with a moderate impact, comes the announcement about retail sales in the United States. The data that is published monthly, has a publication date this Friday

The indicator is calculated based on certain retail stores located in certain parts of the country. An acceleration or deceleration of this indicator shows the growth rate of economic activity.

Retail sales for the month of April are expected to increase between 0.5% and 0.7%.

With the implementation of economic stimuli, through checks issued by the state, this indicator showed growth compared to previous months. This type of monetary benefit, in conjunction with other unemployment security measures, has been controversial. However, they have temporarily boosted retail sales.

The indicator has shown a variable advance but clearly affected by the monetary injection in the economy. Although after the pandemic context, restrictions have been relaxed and, gradually, economic activity has been reactivated, retail sales have gained momentum due to this stimulus.

The relevance of the data lies in being a component of the GDP indicators. The indicator in the last three measurements showed variable but mostly positive results. In January, February and March, retail sales increased from 5.9%, -2.7% and 8.4%.

An increase in retail sales will be positive for the dollar, while lower than expected results could negatively affect the price.