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Last Update: 14-Feb-12 09:46 ET
Motor Vehicles Sales Drag on Overall Retail Sales Growth
An unanticipated drop in motor vehicle sales led to an overall subpar retail sales gain in January. Sales increased 0.4%, up from no growth in December but well below the 0.8% increase expected by the Briefing.com consensus.
Sales at motor vehicle and parts dealers fell 1.1% in January, which was at odds with the 700,000 vehicle increase in unit motor vehicle sales reported by the manufacturers earlier in the month.
It is possible that new car prices declined in January and caused the aggregate dollar sales levels to fall below December sales levels, but that would require prices to fall an improbable 5% in just one month. A more likely reason is that a large portion of the vehicles sold in January bypassed dealers and were sold directly to fleet businesses, such as auto lenders.
Outside of the motor vehicle sector, however, sales jumped 0.7% and easily topped consensus expectations of 0.5% growth.
Just about all retail sectors saw healthy gains in January.
Core retail sales -- which exclude the highly volatile motor vehicles dealers, gasoline stations, and building material and supply dealers -- increased a healthy 0.7%.
Sales at motor vehicle and parts dealers fell 1.1% in January, which was at odds with the 700,000 vehicle increase in unit motor vehicle sales reported by the manufacturers earlier in the month.
It is possible that new car prices declined in January and caused the aggregate dollar sales levels to fall below December sales levels, but that would require prices to fall an improbable 5% in just one month. A more likely reason is that a large portion of the vehicles sold in January bypassed dealers and were sold directly to fleet businesses, such as auto lenders.
Outside of the motor vehicle sector, however, sales jumped 0.7% and easily topped consensus expectations of 0.5% growth.
Just about all retail sectors saw healthy gains in January.
Core retail sales -- which exclude the highly volatile motor vehicles dealers, gasoline stations, and building material and supply dealers -- increased a healthy 0.7%.
