February retail sales data
- Prior was +0.3% (revised to +0.6%)
- Ex autos -0.4% vs +0.1% expected
- Ex autos and gas -0.2% vs +0.3% expected
- Prior ex autos and gas +0.7% (revised to +0.4%)
- Gasoline sales -2.8% vs -0.4% prior
- Control group 0.0% vs +0.4% expected
- Prior control group 0.0% (revised to +0.4%)
This will be the last round of pre-virus data. I expect some initial surge on grocery buying in March but April is going to be dire.
These numbers are a bit better than they look because of the revisions. The US was heading into this on a generally strong footing but the Feb number isn't great. In any case, it's ancient history now and the only question is how bad it gets. I'd hate to be any kind of retailer right now.
