WASHINGTON, May 14 (UPI) -- The Commerce Department said Wednesday retail sales declined 0.1 percent in April to $309.5 billion after jumping a revised 2.3 percent in March.
The Commerce Department originally reported March sales as a 2.1 percent increase.
Part of the sales drop was due to a 5.9 percent decline in gasoline sales, reflecting lower oil prices since the end of major combat in Iraq.
Without gasoline sales, the government said overall retail sales would have risen by 0.4 percent, a figure that would have matched the expectation of economists of Wall Street.
The Commerce Department also said excluding automobiles, retail sales fell 0.9 percent after rising 1.2 percent during the previous month.
Without gasoline and auto sales, retail sales would have fallen by 0.4 percent for the month, a figure economists say is a better gauge of consumer spending. Economists were expecting sales excluding autos to rise 0.2 percent.
Retail sales measure the total receipts at stores that sell durable and non-durable goods.
Consumer spending accounts for two-thirds of the economy, so if you know what consumers are up to, you'll have a pretty good handle on where the economy is headed.
The pattern in consumer spending is often the foremost influence on stock and bond markets. For stocks, strong economic growth translates to healthy corporate profits and higher stock prices. For bonds, the focus is whether economic growth goes overboard and leads to inflation.
Ideally, the economy walks that fine line between strong growth and excessive (inflationary) growth. This balance was achieved through much of the 1990s. For this reason alone, investors in the stock and bond markets enjoyed huge gains during the bull market of the 1990s.
Retail sales growth did slow down in tandem with the equity market in 2000 and 2001.
Retail sales not only give you a sense of the big picture, but also the trends among different types of retailers.
Perhaps auto sales are especially strong or apparel sales are showing exceptional weakness. These trends from the retail sales data can help you spot specific investment opportunities, without having to wait for a company's quarterly or annual report.
The latest reading from the Commerce Department showed sales fell in most categories, except autos -- which rose by 2.5 percent, drugstores, sporting-goods stores, and electronics and home-appliance stores.
Sales at building-materials and garden-equipment stores declined by 0.2 percent in April after jumping 7.3 percent in March.
Furniture sales fell 0.3 percent while sales at clothing stores dropped 3.2 percent during April.
Sales at non-store retailers, which includes Internet and mail-order retailers, fell by 0.4 percent, while sales at general merchandise stores declined 0.6 percent.
Department-store sales fell by 1.4 percent and restaurant sales declined by 0.5 percent in April.
