US retail sales grow by less than anticipated in February

(Sharecast News) - Retail sales in the U.S. grew by less than expected last month. According to the Department of Commerce, in seasonally adjusted terms retail sales volumes grew at a 0.6% month-on-month pace in January to reach $700.7bn.

Economists had penciled in an increase of 0.8%.

Excluding automobiles, retail sales were up by 0.3% on the month (consensus: 0.5%).

Worth noting, January's decline in retail sales was revised down from an initial estimate of -0.8% to -1.1%.

-- More to follow --