Retail and Industry Data In The US Gave Weak Signals

Retail sales and industrial production data for February in the USA gave weak signals for February economic activity.

Retail and industry data in the US gave weak signals. Industry and retail data for February in the country remained below expectations. According to the data announced, industrial production in the country decreased by 2.2 percent in February compared to January. Economists who participated in the Bloomberg survey expected an increase of 0.3 percent. Capacity utilization rate for February was also below expectations. The figure was 73.8 percent, despite the 75.5 percent expectation of economists. Retail sales data for February exhibited a negative outlook below expectations. Retail sales dropped to 3 percent monthly in February. Economists had expected a 0.5 percent decline in industrial production. Retail sales excluding fuel and automotive declined by 3.3 percent in February. The expectation for this data was that there would be a 0.5 percent decrease.