Retail sales beat expectations

By Blake Ellis, staff reporter


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Retail sales rose in February, the government said Friday, surprising economists who expected a decline.

The Commerce Department said total retail sales edged up 0.3% to $355.5 billion last month. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had anticipated that February sales would drop 0.2%.

February's increase showed that Americans were still making it to the stores despite the snow and cold weather last month and customers were splurging on electronics for the Super Bowl, said Chris Donnelly, a senior executive at consulting firm Accenture.

February retail sales jumped 3.9% compared to the same month in 2009.

"This is consistent with the trend we've been seeing," said Donnelly. "We've seen a gradual thaw in the consumer pocketbook, and there is pent up demand -- we are certainly in a more optimistic place in February 2010 than in February 2009."

Consumer spending accounts for two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, and related reports such as retail sales are used to gauge whether a recovery is underway.

The monthly rise in sales was led by a jump in electronics and appliance store sales, which rose 3.7% last month. Purchases of TVs and other electronics leading up to Super Bowl Sunday, which took place early in the month, was likely a large part of this increase, said Donnelly.

The reading was weighed down by auto sales, which fell 2% after dropping 1.5% in the previous month.

Sales excluding autos and auto parts rose 0.8% last month, also beating expectations. A consensus of economists had projected ex-auto sales to edge up 0.1% in February.

Earlier in the month, many of the nation's retail chains reported much stronger than expected February sales.

Sales tracker Thomson Reuters, which looks at monthly same-store sales for 30 chains including Costco and Target, said February sales rose 4% in February, beating analyst expectations.

Donnelly said retail sales are likely to pick up more in the next few months as the season changes and consumers shop for spring and summer clothing.

"In January, February and March as a three-month stretch, there's not a lot of excitement," he said. "But at the end of March and in April and May, you will see a lot more people spending on apparel as the spring comes out, and a pick up in apparel will be a very encouraging sign."

In a separate report last week, the Labor Department said fewer jobs were lost in February than expected, boosting optimism about a recovering labor market. To top of page

Just the hot list include
Frontline troops push for solar energy
The U.S. Marines are testing renewable energy technologies like solar to reduce costs and casualties associated with fossil fuels. Play
25 Best Places to find rich singles
Looking for Mr. or Ms. Moneybags? Hunt down the perfect mate in these wealthy cities, which are brimming with unattached professionals. More
Fun festivals: Twins to mustard to pirates!
You'll see double in Twinsburg, Ohio, and Ketchup lovers should beware in Middleton, WI. Here's some of the best and strangest town festivals. Play
Index Last Change % Change
Dow 32,627.97 -234.33 -0.71%
Nasdaq 13,215.24 99.07 0.76%
S&P 500 3,913.10 -2.36 -0.06%
Treasuries 1.73 0.00 0.12%
Data as of 6:29am ET
Company Price Change % Change
Ford Motor Co 8.29 0.05 0.61%
Advanced Micro Devic... 54.59 0.70 1.30%
Cisco Systems Inc 47.49 -2.44 -4.89%
General Electric Co 13.00 -0.16 -1.22%
Kraft Heinz Co 27.84 -2.20 -7.32%
Data as of 2:44pm ET
Sponsors

Sections

Bankrupt toy retailer tells bankruptcy court it is looking at possibly reviving the Toys 'R' Us and Babies 'R' Us brands. More

Land O'Lakes CEO Beth Ford charts her career path, from her first job to becoming the first openly gay CEO at a Fortune 500 company in an interview with CNN's Boss Files. More

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.