Photo of people walking in a mall in the United States
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – US retail sales remained flat in September, according to official statistics shown on Friday, as high inflation and rapidly rising rates hold back demand for goods.
Economists interviewed by Reuters expect an average increase of 0.2% in September.
Retail sales for August have been revised up and now show a 0.4% increase, up from + 0.3% previously announced, the Commerce Department announced.
Sales are also slowing as spending shifts to services. Retail sales, which consist mainly of commodities, are not adjusted for inflation.
Rising rents and health care are squeezing the budgets of many Americans, leading to reduced spending on goods. The situation is aggravated by the increase in financial charges.
The Federal Reserve raised the federal funds rate target to 3.00% -3.25%, the highest level since 2008, to combat rising prices. A fourth consecutive rate hike of 75 basis points next month is widely expected by the markets following the latest inflation data.
Excluding automobiles, fuels, building materials and restaurant services, retail sales increased by 0.4% in September after + 0.2% in August.
This category is the closest to the one used for the calculation of the consumption component in gross domestic product (GDP) statistics.
(Report Lucia Mutikani, French version Laetitia Volga, edited by Sophie Louet)
