Cars, Home Improvement Give April Retail Sales A Boost
May 13, 2013, 7:57 a.m.
Spring’s arrival late in April gave retail sales a light boost as Americans emerged from hibernation to spend on cars, gardening goods and building supplies.
From March to April, sales rose a slight 0.1% after declining a revised 0.5% from February to March, according to the Commerce Department. Wall Street had expected a 0.3% slide.
The dissipation of the bitter weather that had kept many consumers cooped up at home, coupled with higher home prices, the better-than-expected job market and the record stock performance, helped the sales figures jump 3.7% compared with April 2012.
Consumer spending is a key measure of the nation’s economic health, as it is estimated to make up the majority of domestic economic activity.
Car dealers and other motor vehicle and parts sellers said monthly sales ticked up 1% in April and surged 7.7% from the year-earlier period after slumping 0.6% in what analysts at Credit Suisse called a “sluggish March.”
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http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-april-retail-sales-20130513,0,3299874.story
