US: Retail sales decline 0.2% in April vs +0.2% expected

The advance monthly retail sales report published by the U.S. Census Bureau today showed that retail and food services sales for April 2019 declined by 0.2% to $513.4 billion. 

The US Dollar Index, which rose to a daily high of 97.67 in the last hour, retreated slightly from highs amid the disappointing data and was last up 0.09% on the day at 97.60.

Key takeaways from the press release

• Total sales for the February 2019 through April 2019 period were up 3.0% from the same period a year ago.
• The February 2019 to March 2019% change was revised from up 1.6% to up 1.7% percent.
• Retail trade sales were down 0.2% from March 2019, but 2.8% above last year.