US retail sales rose by 0.1% mom in April 2025, following an upwardly revised 1.7% surge in March. The modest gain suggests consumers scaled back spending in response to a wave of tariff announcements in early April, yet the result still exceeded market expectations for no change.

Biggest increases were seen in sales at food services and drinking places (1.2%), building material and garden equipment supplies dealers (0.8%), furniture (0.3%) and electronics and appliances stores (0.3%).

On the other hand, the largest decreases were recorded at sporting goods, hobby, musical instrument, & book stores (-2.5%), miscellaneous store retailers (-2.1%), gasoline stations (-0.5%), clothing (-0.4%), health and personal care (-0.2%) and general merchandise stores (-0.2%).

Meanwhile, sales excluding food services, auto dealers, building materials stores and gasoline stations, which are used to calculate GDP, were down 0.2%, below an upwardly revised 0.5% gain in March and forecasts of a 0.3% rise.

Source: Trading Economics