The US Department of Commerce released data on retail sales in February. Their volume decreased by 0.2% compared to January, when there was an increase of 0.7%. This was a surprise for economists, who had expected an increase of 0.2%. Sales, which do not include cars, gasoline and building materials, fell in February by 0.2% as well. A month earlier, it was recorded an increase of 1.7%. Retail sales, which did not take into account only cars, showed a decrease of 0.4% after a 1.4% increase in January. The highest rates of decline in sales since April 2012 were recorded in building materials stores, where the figure fell by 4.4%. The fall in food and beverage sales by 1.2% was the most significant in the last 10 years.
