The New York City skyline in the United States

United States Retail January 2022

United States: Retail sales rebound robustly in January

Retail sales increased 3.8% in month-on-month seasonally-adjusted terms in January, which contrasted December’s 2.5% decrease. January’s rebound was primarily due to stronger purchases of food and beverages, and automobiles.

On an annual basis, retail sales rose 13.0% in January, which was down from December’s 16.7% expansion. Meanwhile, annual average retail sales growth rose to 19.7% in January (November: +19.4%). This signals an improving trend in the retail trade sector.

Commenting on the latest print with regards to the monetary policy outlook, Katherine Judge, senior economist at CIBC World Markets, noted:

“Another upside surprise has shown that the US economy is off to a stronger start than we thought in 2022. A 50bps hike at the Fed’s March meeting can’t be ruled out, but it’s not our call. […] It’s clear that the economy will require a faster path to getting the fed funds rate above 1% at this point, but that can readily be achieved by hiking 25 bps at each of the next four meetings.”

Free sample report

Access essential information in the shortest time possible. FocusEconomics provide hundreds of consensus forecast reports from the most reputable economic research authorities in the world.
Close Left Media Arrows Left Media Circles Right Media Arrows Right Media Circles Arrow Quote Wave Address Email Telephone Man in front of screen with line chart Document with bar chart and magnifying glass Application window with bar chart Target with arrow Line Chart Stopwatch Globe with arrows Document with bar chart in front of screen Bar chart with magnifying glass and dollar sign Lightbulb Document with bookmark Laptop with download icon Calendar Icon Nav Menu Arrow Arrow Right Long Icon Arrow Right Icon Chevron Right Icon Chevron Left Icon Briefcase Icon Linkedin In Icon Full Linkedin Icon Filter Facebook Linkedin Twitter Pinterest X Download Fullscreen