Feb. Retail Sales Hit 'Speed Bump,' but NRF Buoyed by Stimulus, Sentiment
February electronics and appliance store sales tumbled 6.7% year on year and slipped 1.9% from January, reported the National Retail Federation Tuesday. NRF CEO Matthew Shay termed overall retail sales -- down 3.4% from January but up 7.1% year on…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Export Compliance Daily combines U.S. export control news, foreign border import regulation and policy developments into a single daily information service that reliably informs its trade professional readers about important current issues affecting their operations.
year -- a “minor speed bump on the road to post-pandemic recovery.” After a strong January, "we expected some payback in the form of lower figures in February,” said NRF Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz. He downplayed the sequential decline, citing large year-over-year gains and sales “well above” pre-pandemic levels. February sales were affected by winter storms and the IRS' delay in releasing tax refunds, Kleinhenz noted. “With another round of stimulus checks being mailed right now, we expect another large boost in consumer spending over the next few months.” The month-to-month decline is “not a reflection of consumers’ willingness and ability to spend and drive the economy,” Shay said. Consumer confidence is at its highest level since March 2020, and NRF is optimistic that retail will help drive “a surge in spending, job growth and capital investment” in the second half as Americans are vaccinated and local economies reopen, he said. February retail sales fell in every category except groceries, which were unchanged from January, but sales were up year on year in most categories. NRF is forecasting 2021 retail sales will grow 6.5%-8.2% over 2020 to $4.3 trillion-$4.4 trillion.