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US retail sales edge up 0.6% in March

US retail sales edge up 0.6% in March

Mubasher: Retail sales in the US grew in March 2018, breaking three-month straight drops.

Retail sales inched up 0.6% in the third month of 2018, against a 0.1% decrease a month earlier, data by the US Commerce Department showed on Monday.

Economists had expected a 0.4% increase in retail sales during March.

"An Easter holiday that fell on the last weekend of the month helped to drive more traffic into stores, though a bout of bad weather last month hurt some retailers such as home centers and clothing stores," Market Watch reported.

Year-on-year, the US retail sales levelled up 4.5% during March, while they went up 4.1% for the first quarter of 2018, compared to the year-ago period.

“The somewhat improved performance in March was too late to help the first quarter, but it does set the stage for a marked pickup in real consumer spending in the second quarter,”  Stephen Stanley, chief economist of Amherst Pierpont Securities, said.