April Retail Sales Disappoint

Tuesday morning was a big day for retail. The Census Bureau retail measurements, ICSC-Goldman retail survey, and Redbook results were all released.

According to the Census Bureau, there was no sales growth for April while economists expected a 0.6 percent increase. The lack of growth is also significantly down from 1.5 percent in March. Excluding gasoline, sales are actually down 0.1 percent for the April.

The ICSC-Goldman Sachs report was equally disappointing, showing a 0.1 percent week over week drop in retail sales.

Retail bulls got some support from the Redbook figures, which showed a 1.1 percent increase for the first week of May, month over month. Compared to the same week a year ago, same store sales are up 4.2 percent.

Shares of retailers are trading slightly lower on the news. The SPDR S&P Retail ETF XRT is down 0.24 percent today versus a 0.12 percent climb on the S&P 500.

The data showed in these reports will not be included in the first quarter results that many retailers are reporting later this week.

Macy’s is expected to report Wednesday. JCPenney, Kohl’s, Nordstrom, and Walmart are expected to report Thursday.