03-13-2019, 02:24 PM
A growing number Wall Street economists are downgrading their expectations for first quarter U.S. growth, after a sharp drop in December’s retail figures suggested consumers could be losing their enthusiasm to keep spending. On Monday, the Commerce Department reported that retail sales in January rose by a better-than-expected 1.1%, rebounding from the prior month’s 1.6% drop — which was revised downward from an initial estimate of a 1.2% decline. The nearly $21 trillion U.S. economy relies heavily on consumer spending, which comprises about ⅔ of gross domestic product.
Wall Street mulls sub-2% U.S. growth as consumers cut back on spending
Chinese auto sales declined almost 14 percent in February, an industry group announced Monday, marking the eighth straight month of year-on-year decline in the world's biggest vehicle market. Auto demand in China surged for years as the country experienced decades of economic development that created rising consumer class. But annual sales fell last year for the first time in about two decades as growth in the world's second-largest economy slowed and uncertainty due to the trade war with the United States damaged sentiment.