• 806 days Will The ECB Continue To Hike Rates?
  • 806 days Forbes: Aramco Remains Largest Company In The Middle East
  • 808 days Caltech Scientists Succesfully Beam Back Solar Power From Space
  • 1,208 days Could Crypto Overtake Traditional Investment?
  • 1,212 days Americans Still Quitting Jobs At Record Pace
  • 1,214 days FinTech Startups Tapping VC Money for ‘Immigrant Banking’
  • 1,217 days Is The Dollar Too Strong?
  • 1,218 days Big Tech Disappoints Investors on Earnings Calls
  • 1,219 days Fear And Celebration On Twitter as Musk Takes The Reins
  • 1,220 days China Is Quietly Trying To Distance Itself From Russia
  • 1,221 days Tech and Internet Giants’ Earnings In Focus After Netflix’s Stinker
  • 1,225 days Crypto Investors Won Big In 2021
  • 1,225 days The ‘Metaverse’ Economy Could be Worth $13 Trillion By 2030
  • 1,226 days Food Prices Are Skyrocketing As Putin’s War Persists
  • 1,228 days Pentagon Resignations Illustrate Our ‘Commercial’ Defense Dilemma
  • 1,228 days US Banks Shrug off Nearly $15 Billion In Russian Write-Offs
  • 1,232 days Cannabis Stocks in Holding Pattern Despite Positive Momentum
  • 1,232 days Is Musk A Bastion Of Free Speech Or Will His Absolutist Stance Backfire?
  • 1,233 days Two ETFs That Could Hedge Against Extreme Market Volatility
  • 1,235 days Are NFTs About To Take Over Gaming?
  1. Home
  2. Markets
  3. Other

Weather Unexpectedly Much Worse Than Economists Previously Thought

Weather Surprisingly Worse

Retail sales were down for the third month today. The Economists Blame Cold Weather.

U.S. retail sales unexpectedly fell for a third straight month in February as harsh weather kept consumers from auto showrooms and shopping malls, tempering the outlook for first-quarter growth and a June interest rate increase. "This report points to a surprisingly bigger weather impact on spending activity than previously thought," said Millan Mulraine, deputy chief economist at TD Securities in the New York.


Bloomberg Consensus

The Bloomberg Econoday Consensus Is amusing as well.

Bloomberg Consensus


Retail Sales From Previous Month

Retail Sales From Previous Month


Retail Sales From Previous Year

Retail Sales From Previous Year

Charts from Commerce Department Advance Monthly Sales for February 2015.


Retail Sales Excluding Motor Vehicles and Parts

Retail Sales Excluding Motor Vehicles and Parts


Retail Sales Excluding Food Services

Retail Sales Excluding Food Services

Quite the "Weather" Impact


Factory Orders Blame Game

In regards to factory orders I noted that some blame the rising dollar, some blame weakness in foreign demand, some blame the port strike, and some blame lower oil prices, and some blame cutbacks in the energy sector. No one cited the "slowing global economy".

Curiously, no one blamed the weather the for factory orders. Then again, This [retail sales] report points to a surprisingly bigger weather impact on spending activity than previously thought.

The retail sales consensus was +0.3%. Actual sales were -0.6%. That was a half percentage point lower than any economist's prediction.

Damn that bad weather! When does it end?

 

Back to homepage

Leave a comment

Leave a comment