The U.S. retail sales data for the month of December is set to release tomorrow. Seasonally adjusting retail sales can be challenging around year-end, but sales are expected to have risen quite strongly in December, even with a fall in auto sales. According to a TD Economics research report, the retail sales are likely to have grown 0.5 percent sequentially in December from November’s 0.2 percent.
Anecdotal reports on the holiday shopping season were quite positive, albeit with department stores continuing to lose market share to non-store retailers.
“The backdrop for spending has remained positive, with the labor market still fairly strong (even with some slowing in the payrolls data for December), wealth measures rising and consumer confidence staying high”, added TD Economics.
