Retail sales soft/Import prices as expected kept in check by strong dollar

Core retail sales in January, that had rougher weather than the past few January’s and of course the fires in LA, fell .8% w/o/w which was much below expectations of a .3% gain. This follows a .8% rise in December.

Not included in the core, auto sales fell a sharp 2.8% in January m/o/m and building materials were lower for a 4th straight month, down by 1.3%.

Elsewhere, e-commerce sales fell a notable 1.9% m/o/m, and of course can’t be blamed on weather. Sales also fell for furniture, electronics, clothing and sporting goods. On essentials, like food/beverage and health/personal care, sales fell too, by a touch m/o/m. Department stores saw a gain in sales as did restaurants/bars.