Analysts questioning retail sales figures

Bloomberg/Matthew Townsend, Steve Matthews and Matthew Boesler/2-14-2019

“So much for a merry Christmas. That is, if you trust the numbers. Figures released Thursday by the Commerce Department show U.S. retail sales fell 1.2 percent in December from the previous month in the biggest drop since 2009, rather than the slight increase economists had been expecting. Even more confusing: There was a pullback in a measure based largely on internet sales, which had been expected to be the U.S. retailing industry’s saving grace this holiday season.”

USAGOLD note:  We referred to the generally anemic report numbers in today’s DMR.  Some apparently think that there is a problem with the data gathering traced back to the government shutdown.  One would think that those charged with gathering these numbers would have double-checked before the release particularly when they saw a retail sales drop not seen since the 2008 financial crisis.