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U.S. Retail Sales Fell 16.4% in April, Their Worst Ever Drop

Published 05/15/2020, 08:34 AM
Updated 05/15/2020, 08:35 AM
© Reuters.

By Geoffrey Smith 

Investing.com -- Lockdowns across the U.S. led retail sales to their deepest monthly fall on record in April, new data published on Friday showed.

The Census Bureau said that retail sales fell by 16.4%, after a drop of 8.4% in March. That is considerably worse than the 12% fall expected by analysts ahead of time. The March drop was a tad less steep than the  initial estimate of 8.7%.

Core retail sales, which strip out auto sales, also fell by a record-breaking 17.2%, compared to expectations for a decline of only 8.6%.

The figures illustrated the sharp decline in fortunes between online retailers and those tied to their physical stores. Non-store retail volumes rose 8.4% on the month. 

The figures are the latest hard data generated for the first month to show the full impact of lockdowns that were imposed as the coronavirus pandemic spread across the U.S. 

Public health measures have had a devastating effect on virtually all sectors of the economy since then, with over one quarter of the U.S. workforce filing for jobless benefits.

More updates for April are due at 9:15 AM ET (1315 GMT) with the publication of industrial production and manufacturing output numbers for the month.

Latest comments

And this was a surprise or unexpected, what a lame article.
Never trust the very low-payed analysts to get their predictions correct. Studies show their estimates about future outcomes are right only 17% of the time. Odd, then, that when they say a company’s EPS will be +5% and it comes it at only +2%, the stock tanks. Why wouldn’t the anaylsts get tanked for being so wrong? But there they are every 3 months thereafter making the same incorrect forecasts.
Not good, not terrible....
Don't worry. .USA was 3/4 weeks behind Europe for the beginning of the pandemic. In Germany, France, UK, Italy, re opening for 1 week only ! Maybe 2 or 3 weeks difficult in USA.
wow what a surprise? no wonder the market is down. if you believe in Covid19 you believe this market isn't rigged.
This market is completely rational, just watch CNBC and listen to the experts if you are an experienced investor. The market tries to predict the future from rumors (buy the rumor, sell the news) and forward-looking evidence. Markets always rise well in advance of things getting better on the ground, or on "main street". You don't have to like it, I'm not sure I do either, but we all have to realists about this.
how? ... I can't stand Trump personally, and I thought it was a disaster when he got the nomination, but his policies seem to be very good for ALL citizens...if that's not true, then please explain
Let us take a step back and look at the retail space prior to COVID. How many box stores, chains and restaurants were in trouble before the pandemic hit? The fed liquidity pump and money machine is not going to save those companies. We haven't started scratching the surface of the underlying solvency issues that many businesses are facing or will face moving forward. The notion that it was okay to leverage to the hilt because 'hey when things are going well they go well forever' eventually comes to a crashing halt.
Because 86,000 Americans lost their lives due to his policies that were way too late and very often botched when implemented.
yeah, the virus is fake, the planet is fake, reality is fake. fake fake fake. La la la I can't hear you! you are fake too!
The only thing that's fake is this modern idea that we get to choose our own reality of what is good and healthy for us as human beings. We can all choose our hairstyle or the career we want to pursue, for example, but denying the basics of human nature, what we all share at our core, is the reason so many people nowadays are constantly consulting psychologists and other therapists, etc...traditional, religious family values have sadly been trivialized or yforgotten by many today. If only our grandparents and great-grandparents could come back to empasize this for us!
You are a typical know it all fool, explaining everything to everyone. This cooked market will bring you to your knees just like it has everyone else.
Rather than insult me, why not tell me why my comment was wrong instead?
how you can count this data report in lockdown it's just to move market ups and down news are created
when the world is in lockdown how can you actually rely on any data
it's all materialized data report.all fake
83.6 much better than expected.
How is this even news we shut the world down !!! *******what was yall expecting a good number . And i swear to god im tired of hearing about US China
Right. Like almost everything in a store was not getting brought do to the virus and stores and factories being closed. This China and US stuff is nonsense. Went through the same thing during the summer which killed what people really would have had. Stocks would have been way higher if there was no trade tensions between the two in the summer.
the drop looks rather low when most shops were closed and but everything can be bought online
Obviously the analysts are analysing and not shopping. Line-ups, restrictions and closures are everywhere.
Breaking News > Water and Electricity consumption hits lowest numbers at night, due to people being asleep. Why is the obvious making Breaking News?
Maybe because the drop was way worse than anticipated? I dunno, these articles are about as informative as your statement about electric consumption 😂
what they thinking. where people should spend it when everything is closed.
Duh..like what you expect..I expect a rally
That's just the beginning. By July it will be -70%!!!
up or down?
And we were expecting? Come on this is hardly a surprise
people are spending less money on consumer goods and more on the stock market !
Another DJI 800 points reversal today!
Hey folks, how much did you reduce (if at all) your discretionary spending in the last two months? Mine is cut down by around 80%.
well God has blessed me. and I live very prudently. so spending is about the same.
same here. only groceries and clothes for the kids.
Come on, Matt! Of course none of us ever waste any money, and our budgets are calibrated better than a super car engine. I also buy every dip and sell every peak perfectly. Now for the real answer, my discretionary spending reduced 25%, mostly restaurants.
Shocker! Unemployed people spent less money! Now the next phase is the stockmarket to understand this or is the fed going to buy stocks directly in the market to prop it up?
Hey, stocks can't be in the red everyday. Did you forget the 11,000 point disaster in February March? You must have forgotten. Your not even in the stock market so move on!
But what about the 5G this time to invest in 5G lmao !!!
not surprised but it will gradually rise up next month .
Only companies that is making money is food places and Dollar stores retail should be fall - 20 everybody dont have computer to order online then you got watch out gor scams
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