US retail spending grows 0.6% in February

Shoppers fed the cash registers a bit more in February, according to the latest Census Bureau data.

Retail spending increased 0.6% from the previous month and grew 1.5% YoY, the bureau reported Thursday. The monthly gain was a reversal from January’s decline of 1.1%—which the bureau revised downward from its initial -0.8% estimate.

February’s gains, while a clear improvement from January, were still behind the 0.8% increase that economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had predicted.

“The retail sales report this month supports our view that the economy is strong but cooling,” ​Ellen Zentner, chief US economist at Morgan Stanley, wrote in a client note, Yahoo Finance reported. “There is no reason for the Fed to rush the next move in rates. We expect the Fed to first cut the funds rate in June, once the Fed has enough data to feel confident that inflation is moving sustainably towards the 2% target.”

Other economists shared Zentner’s sentiment. Earlier in the week, the Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed inflation in February grew 0.4% from January and 3.2% year over year. “Reports like January’s and February’s aren’t going to prompt the Fed to lower rates quickly,” Robert Frick, corporate economist at the Navy Federal Credit Union, told CNBC.

In-store sales grew 0.6% from January, and non-store retail sales increased 6.4% YoY. And sales were up 6.3% YoY for food and beverage establishments. Cheers?