April Retail Sales Off 0.6% in 1st Decline in 6 Months

Retail sales, depressed by bad weather and an early Easter, fell 0.6% in April, the first decline in six months, the government said today.

The Commerce Department said that sales totaled a seasonally adjusted $131.6 billion last month as sales fell $815 million from March.

The 0.6% drop was the first decline since a 0.8% setback last October. The March performance was revised upward, however, to show an increase of 1.7%, the biggest advance since August and much stronger than the originally reported 0.8% gain.

The swings in both months came from the fact that Easter came early this year, meaning that consumers did their spring shopping in March and siphoning off sales from April.

In addition, unseasonably cool weather in the Northeast and West dampened sales for spring apparel as well as for lawn and garden items.

Given all the unusual influences, analysts said the weak April sales report did not alter their general assessment that the economy has been performing well so far this year.

Car sales fell for the first time since November, declining by 1% to a seasonally adjusted $29.7 billion. Strong car sales, propelled by sales incentive programs, have provided much of the overall strength in consumer spending so far this year.

Sales of all durable goods, items expected to last at least three years, dropped 0.6%. Sales of non-durable goods fell an identical 0.6%.

Sales at grocery stores fell 0.3% in April while sales at gasoline stations were off 1.3%, and sales at restaurants dropped 1.6%.