Retail Sales Jump by Forecast-Beating 3.8 Percent, but Experts Point to Weakness Behind Numbers

Retail Sales Jump by Forecast-Beating 3.8 Percent, but Experts Point to Weakness Behind Numbers
A person passes a 30 percent off sign on display in a store at the Lincoln Road mall in Miami Beach, Fla., on Dec. 14, 2021. Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Tom Ozimek
Tom Ozimek
Reporter
|Updated:

U.S. retail sales saw a strong, forecast-beating rebound in January after a sharp pullback in the prior month, although experts cautioned to not read too much into the numbers, as seasonal adjustments to the data played an outsized role.

U.S. shoppers appeared to hit the stores in droves in January, with a Feb. 16 Commerce Department report (pdf) stating that retail sales surged by 3.8 percent. At the same time, the December 2021 retail sales figures were revised down to show sales falling by 2.5 percent rather than the 1.9 percent drop the agency reported in its prior release.
Tom Ozimek
Tom Ozimek
Reporter
Tom Ozimek is a senior reporter for The Epoch Times. He has a broad background in journalism, deposit insurance, marketing and communications, and adult education.
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