US retail sales fall 0.9% in May, weighed down by decline in motor vehicle purchases
U.S. retail sales dropped more than expected in May, weighed down by a decline in motor vehicle purchases as a rush to beat potential tariffs-related price hikes ebbed, but consumer spending remained supported by solid wage growth.
Retail sales fell 0.9% last month after a downwardly revised 0.1% dip in April, the Commerce Department's Census Bureau said on Tuesday.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast retail sales, which are mostly goods and are not adjusted for inflation, decreasing 0.7% after a previously reported 0.1% gain in April.
by Taboola
by Taboola
Sponsored Links
Sponsored Links
Promoted Links
Promoted Links
You May Like
The Top 25 Most Beautiful Women In The World
Articles Vally
Undo
Estimates ranged from a 1.7% drop to a 0.3% increase. Sales last month were also held down by lower receipts at service stations because of a decline in gasoline prices.
President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs have raised fears over global growth, restraining oil prices. But hostilities between Israel and Iran have boosted oil prices. Unseasonably cooler weather likely also hurt sales.
Live Events
Federal Reserve officials prepared to start a two-day policy meeting on Tuesday. The U.S. central bank was expected to keep its benchmark overnight interest rate unchanged in the 4.25%-4.50% range while policymakers monitor the economic impact of tariffs and tensions in the Middle East.
A 25% duty on imported motor vehicles and trucks came into effect in April.
Retail sales excluding automobiles, gasoline, building materials and food services increased 0.4% in May after an upwardly revised 0.1% fall in April. These so-called core retail sales, which correspond most closely with the consumer spending component of gross domestic product, were previously reported to have dropped 0.2% in April.
Consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of the, economy slowed sharply in the first quarter, and could remain moderate in the April-June quarter.
The Atlanta Fed is currently forecasting GDP rebounding at a 3.8% annualized rate in the second quarter. The anticipated surge will largely reflect a reversal in imports, which have fallen sharply as the frontloading of goods fizzled. The economy contracted at a 0.2% pace in the January-March quarter.
Downside risks to consumer spending are rising. The labor market is slowing, student loan repayments have resumed for millions of Americans and household wealth has been eroded amid tariff-induced stock market volatility. The uncertain economic environment could lead to precautionary saving.
"Past experience suggests the biggest price rises will come in July, though the full impact of the tariffs likely will emerge across the whole of the remainder of the year," said Samuel Tombs, chief U.S. economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.
"That will weigh on growth in real incomes at the same time as a softening labor market will make people cautious with discretionary spending. Meanwhile, households no longer have 'excess savings' or strong growth in stock prices to spur them to spend."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
36 minutes ago
- Time of India
Rail link for Maruti factory: What this means for car transport logistics in India
Gurgaon: Inauguration of a multi-modal cargo terminal at Maruti Suzuki 's manufacturing plant in Manesar is being touted as a shift towards sustainable transportation that will help India's largest carmaker reduce its carbon footprint. What is a multi-modal cargo terminal? As the term suggests, a multi-modal terminal is a specially designed facility that helps transfer goods between different modes of transportation. The idea is to leverage the strength of different transportation modes – cost-efficacy and eco-friendliness of railways, flexibility and last-mile connectivity of road, and speed of air freight. According to govt officials, there are 108 such terminals in India. What about the Manesar terminal? The two-storey terminal, India's largest such facility, was built over 46 acres inside Maruti Suzuki India's manufacturing plant in Manesar. It will be used exclusively by the automaker. How will it operate and what are its benefits? Cars manufactured at Maruti's Gurgaon plant will be transported by truck to the Manesar plant, where they will be loaded into railway coaches for dispatch to various destinations. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Giao dịch vàng CFDs với mức chênh lệch giá thấp nhất IC Markets Đăng ký Undo Vehicles manufactured at the Manesar plant will be directly loaded into railway coaches from the cargo terminal for transporting across India. This will reduce the carmaker's reliance on trailer trucks, eventually easing road and highway traffic, including in NCR. Officials told TOI the company engages 9,000 truck transporters for ferrying its vehicles across India. How is this different from 'truck on train' RoRo (roll on, roll off) service? The 'truck on train' service for auto parts, rolled out on the western freight corridor from Rewari last year, allowed companies to send trucks loaded with auto parts or vehicles to be loaded onto trains. Once the cargo rakes reach their destination, trucks roll down the train and deliver the goods. How will cars be transported across India from the terminal? According to officials, the terminal will facilitate transport to 380 Indian cities. From the Manesar plant, cargo trains will go up to Patli station, which is part of the 126km Haryana Railway Orbital Corridor (HORC) project. HORC, of which only the Manesar-Patli portion has been completed till now, will connect Palwal to Sonipat through a broad-gauge double railway line for both passenger and goods traffic. The corridor, meant to decongest train traffic in Delhi with a bypass, will enable faster and more-affordable long-distance travel from Gurgaon, Manesar and other industrial hubs of Haryana. Patli station also falls on the Northern Railway line, which goes to Rewari, where it can switch to the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC). This 1,500km freight corridor starts from Dadri in UP and transports goods up to Gujarat — where Mundra and Pipavav ports are located. The freight corridor, once completed, will eventually reach JNPT port in Mumbai. What is railways' share in transporting Maruti vehicles? The automaker started dispatching its vehicles through railways over a decade ago. About 5% of vehicles manufactured by Maruti were transported via rail in 2014-15. This share steadily went up over the year, reaching 24% last financial year. The company says it aims to transport 35% of its production through trains by 2030-31.
Time of India
36 minutes ago
- Time of India
Completely Impossible ..., say analysts on claims that Donald Trump's T1 smartphone will be made in America; add: Where are ...
The Trump Organization says that the entire device, which costs $499 is assembled in the US, but there is no information on when it will hit stores. Earlier this week, the Trump Organization, owned by the US President Donald Trump, announced the launch of the T1, a gold-colored smartphone priced at $499. The smartphone, which will run on Google's Android operating system, is being promoted as 'built in the United States.' However, industry experts have cast doubt on these claims, suggesting the phone is likely designed and manufactured by a Chinese company. The announcement comes as President Trump has intensified scrutiny on global smartphone supply chains, particularly targeting companies like Apple to move manufacturing to the U.S. amid threats of tariffs on imported devices. Francisco Jeronimo, vice president at International Data Corp. told CNBC that it is 'completely impossible' for the T1 to be fully designed and manufactured in the U.S. He and other analysts, including Blake Przesmicki of Counterpoint Research, believe the phone is likely produced by a Chinese original device manufacturer (ODM), which designs and builds products to the specifications of other companies. Jeff Fieldhack, research director at Counterpoint, added that the U.S. lacks readily available local manufacturing capabilities for smartphones. Experts also warn that the US-based smartphone production would be a costly and time-intensive endeavor, likely increasing prices significantly. How and where to get the components The T1's specifications further highlight its reliance on global supply chains. The device features a 6.8-inch AMOLED display, likely sourced from South Korean companies Samsung or LG, or Chinese manufacturer BOE. Its 50-megapixel camera is expected to use image sensors from Japan's Sony, a dominant player in the market. The phone's processor is likely to come from Taiwan's MediaTek or Qualcomm, with manufacturing based in Taiwan. While US-based Micron could supply memory components, other suppliers like Samsung may also be involved. 'Even with local manufacturing, the T1 will rely on imported components,' Fieldhack noted, underscoring the global nature of smartphone production.
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Trump mobile phone: Specifications, plans, carrier, and all details — is it Made in China?
Is Donald Trump's smartphone really made in the USA? Live Events Can the U.S. actually manufacture a phone like this? What happened during the phone's preorder launch? What are the specifications of the Trump mobile? FAQs (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel The "T1," Donald Trump 's much-anticipated mobile phone, is making headlines. Reports indicate that the advertised "Built in America" claim for Trump's new T1 smartphone appears to be say that the rollout has problems and that the company made false claims about how it was made. There were also a lot of technical problems with Trump Media 's preorder to reports, the new "All-American" smartphone that President Donald Trump's family is selling is made in China Apple Insider claims that although the base model of the device, which does not have the gilded trim or Trump branding, is only $169 on Amazon, the recently launched Trump Mobile is charging $499 for a gold iPhone lookalike, as quoted in a report by The Daily president's sons unveiled the new phone, which they called the "T1," promising that it would be made in the US. Eric Trump, however, had to quickly quell hopes that the first Trump phones would be made in the president's second-born son told right-wing podcaster Ben Shapiro that "all the phones can be built in the United States of America eventually." "We must return manufacturing to the United States." Thus their motto is, "Built for America by Americans. Do it cheaper. Do it better.'This intensified skepticism about Trump Mobile's ability to manufacture a smartphone in the US by August, despite the promise of delivery to fact that no significant smartphone is made in America was brought up recently when Trump threatened to impose high tariffs on tech firms like Apple that produce goods in device was "designed and built in the United States," according to the Trump Organization's press release, and the company's website boasts that it operates on "All-American Performance.""Manufacturing for the new phone will be in Alabama, California, and Florida," the Trump Organization told The Wall Street Insider reported that the T1 phone might be modified in the United States. "It was definitely not created or put together in the United States."When MAGA fans buy the T1, they might not be aware that they are purchasing an item that was produced to other reports, Trump Media blew its rollout. The Journal was among those who doubted its ability to produce a smartphone manufactured in the United States in a timely only Chinese manufacturers, such as Xiaomi and Oppo, have comparable hardware at that price point, the paper stated that it is "possible even plausible that these phones would initially come from China."Since the current state of technology makes it impossible to produce the necessary components, Tinglong Dai, a professor at Johns Hopkins University, estimates that it will take five years to build the infrastructure for manufacturing a smartphone in America, as per a report by The example, 404 Media reported that when they tried to preorder the device, their reporter's card was undercharged for the $100 deposit and they received an error message before they could provide an address for the product's eventual to the Trump Media website, the T1 will have a 6.8-inch screen, which is marginally bigger than the biggest Apple iPhone to date. In addition, it has a bright AMOLED screen, a refresh rate of 120 Hz, and a larger battery than any claims, it is reportedly being manufactured in China rather than the United States, at least for the time reported website crashes, incorrect charges, and missing shipping information after paying deposits.
