US retail sales fell for the third month in a row in February as severe winter weather gripped large parts of the country, according to official data released today.
Retail and food services sales fell 0.6% from January, dragged down by sharp falls in cars and building material supplies sales, the Commerce Department reported.
Sales of motor vehicles and parts slid 2.5%, and sales of building and garden supplies declined 2.3%. Excluding car sales, retail sales slipped 0.1%.
The February retail data were unexpectedly weak. Analysts had projected a rebound, with the consensus estimate for overall sales growth at 0.4% and, excluding cars, at 0.6%.
But they pointed out that February this year was the coldest since at least 1997, when comparable heating-degree day data begin.
The steep drop in car sales was "also likely" to have at least some weather component, they added.
Unlike in December and January, the retail sales decline was not due to sharply falling petrol prices, which had edged higher as crude-oil prices eased back from a steep slide.
According to the data, which is seasonally adjusted but not adjusted for price changes, petrol sales rose 1.5% in February, after a 24.1% dive in January.
Retail sales are a part of consumer spending, the driver of two-thirds of US economic activity, while services accounts for most spending. February sales were up a modest 1.7% from a year ago.
