By Jeffry Bartash, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Americans spent less at gasoline stations and most other stores in March, as retail sales posted the biggest decline in nine months.
The decline in retail sales — the biggest since last June — might be a sign that higher taxes and slower job creation are taking a bite out of the economy. A cold snap in March might also have limited sales, economists say.
Retail sales in the U.S. fell 0.4% last month after a revised 1.0% gain in February, the Commerce Department said Friday. That was below the MarketWatch forecast of a 0.1% decline.
Sales for January were also revised to show a 0.1% drop instead of a 0.2% increase, suggesting that first-quarter growth might not be as strong as forecast. The U.S. is estimated to have grown 3.0% in the first quarter, according to the latest MarketWatch estimate.
Sales minus autos also fell 0.4% in March, while sales minus gas stations dropped 0.2%
Consumers are the main engine of U.S. economic growth, and retail sales reflect a large chunk of their spending . That makes retail sales a good proxy for how fast the U.S. is growing, though economists look at longer-term trends because the monthly data is volatile and subject to sharp revisions.
Jeffry Bartash is a reporter for MarketWatch in Washington.
