US: Retail sales to slow slightly in February

The US Census Bureau will release the advance report on Monthly Sales for Retail and Food Services for February on Tuesday, March 17, at 12:30 GMT. Joseph Trevisani, an analyst at FXStreet, with the preview.

Key quotes

“Retail sales are expected to fall to 0.2% in February from 0.3% in January.”

“The retail sales control group, the Bureau of Economic Analysis’ (BEA) GDP component, is predicted to increase 0.4% in February after being flat in January.  Sales ex-autos are projected to dip to 0.2% from 0.3%.”

“The February retail sales figures are retrograde and not useful in assessing the current economic direction unless they show an unanticipated drop, in which case, they will be seen as a harbinger of much worse declines to come.”