The US Department of Commerce published a report on the dynamics of retail sales in March, noting the record growth rate since September 2017 last month. The volume of retail sales grew by 1.6% compared to February, when the figure fell by 0.2%. Experts had expected sales to increase by only 1%. The growth of retail sales, not taking into account cars, gasoline and building materials, also turned out to be better than expected, reaching 1% after a decline of 0.3% a month earlier. The figure, which does not include car sales, rose by 1.2%, while economists had predicted an increase of 0.4%. Cars and spare parts for them were sold by 3.3% more than in February. Clothing sales increased by 2%, food and beverages - by 1%, electronics - by 0.5%. The growth in gasoline sales in monetary terms was 3.5%. A decrease in the indicator was observed only in one category - the sale of sporting goods decreased by 0.3%.
