对今天美国零售数据的一个分析。

Best Retail Sales Since 2017 Brighten U.S. Growth Outlook (1)

12 of 13 sectors gain, with clothing stores up most since May

Separate report shows jobless claims drop to fresh 49-year low

By?Reade Pickert

(Bloomberg) –?

Retail sales in the U.S. jumped by the most since September 2017 and first-time filings for unemployment benefits dropped to a fresh 49-year low, as a strong labor market gives American consumers the wherewithal to keep the economy chugging along.

The value of overall sales in March rose?1.6 percent, boosted by gains in motor vehicles and gasoline stations, after an unrevised 0.2 percent decrease the prior month, according to Commerce Department?figures?released Thursday. That exceeded all forecasts in Bloomberg’s survey calling for a 1 percent gain.

A Labor Department report released at the same time showed initial jobless?claims?fell last week to 192,000, the lowest since September 1969. Economists had projected an increase.

“The labor market is alive and well,” said?Stephen Stanley, chief economist at Amherst Pierpont Securities LLC. Income gains support consumer spending and “as long as the labor market is doing well there is good reason to expect consumer spending should do fine.”

With first-quarter gross domestic product figures due April 26, the surprisingly strong retail report spurred economists to further increase projections. Analysts raised economic growth?forecasts?for the period Wednesday after a report showing the trade deficit unexpectedly narrowed in February. The economy had showed signs of slowing heading into 2019, before the U.S. central bank put rate hikes on indefinite hold and a government shutdown clouded the outlook.

A Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta estimate of first-quarter gross domestic product was revised up Thursday to?2.8 percent?from 2.4 percent Wednesday.

Bolstered Case

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. economists said any slowdown may be confined to the first three months of the year. “A dovish Fed pivot, the reopening of the government, and a tentative rebound in global growth have bolstered the case for reacceleration,” according to a note co-written by Goldman Sachs economist?Spencer Hill.

The stronger data signal consumers may continue to drive the expansion amid solid wage gains, low unemployment, and policy makers indicating interest rates will remain on hold this year. The rebound, after a December plunge,