Announced this morning, Retail Sales for January increased 3.8% for the month, much higher than expected. Non-Store retailers, Department stores, and Furniture stores were all strong were strong, while Gasoline stations were weak. Non-store retailers were up 14.5% in the month, which could be related to people using gift cards given over the holidays. The Control Group, which is a closer measure of the inputs for GDP that excludes sales for food, autos, building materials, and gas stations, increased 4.8% in January also much higher than expected. Overall, strong headline figures for retail sales in January, but they should be tempered given current inflationary pressures and revisions the previous month even more negative than first announced. Consumers appear intent spending especially as we move past the Omicron variant, despite waning sentiment amidst elevated prices. As we work through this process, the amount which spending migrates to services, rather than goods which were sought after during the pandemic, will be important to alleviating inflationary pressures in the months ahead. In all, the 10-year US treasury yield ticks lower following the report and equity futures are lower as we head into the market open.
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