Since those who took out student loans are now having to repay them, United States retail sales have plummeted. According to the Bank of America, who have been mysteriously all-knowing for months, this morning’s U.S. retail sales print will be better than expected.
However, Goldman Sachs warned last month that retail sales could stumble hard because “the largest effects of the hit from the resumption of student loan payments will come in October.”
Ahead of retail sales: BofA real-time debit and credit card data indicates a big beat to consensus, especially on headline pic.twitter.com/4iFSdIj4Cz
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) November 15, 2023
There could be a problem with inflation as well. Wages are not keeping up with the cost of living and people are struggling to make ends meet during these interesting economic times.
After last month’s big upside surprise, the consensus was for a 0.3% drop Month over Month (MoM) in retail sales but the actual print came in better than expected, declining just 0.1% MoM (the first decline in 7 months).
Source: Bloomberg
Both headline and core retail sales Year over Year (YoY) growth slowed in October.
Source: Bloomberg
Retail sales ‘control group’ (which excludes food services, automobile dealers, building materials, and gasoline stations) and is used for GDP calculations, rose 0.2% MoM in October, according to a report by ZeroHedge.
Furniture, Motor Vehicles, and Miscellaneous Stores saw the biggest MoM declines…
Miscellaneous Store Retailers continue to swing around violently.
As a reminder, last month’s big jump was ‘seasonally adjusted’ by the ruling class’s central bankers. Un-adjusted sales dropped over 5% MoM. In October, sales of NSA (non-seasonally adjusted) rose 2.3% MoM.
Source: Bloomberg
Not exactly the “great news” everyone was expecting but still a “beat”, writes ZeroHedge.
In a society driven by consumption and buying, it is important to note when things get a little off. With the Christmas season fast approaching, it’s definitely possible that retail sales will pick up dramatically, even if people are going to have to put gifts on their credit cards this year.
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