US retail sales have recovered from a significant decline in December that made many economists wonder about the health of the US economy. Headline retail sales rose 0.2% in January, after a drop the month before that was revised downward to 1.6%.
The retail sales control group, which basically excludes every volatile component such as the auto dealer, gas station and building materials segments to improve month-to-month comparison, rose 1.1% after a 2.3% decline in December. The latest retail sales figures suggest the December data were just a glitch, as has been the case with many other data points in the past, but after the latest nonfarm payroll number of just 20,000 for January, uncertainties are likely to linger for a while longer.