Retail Sales
How much consumers are actually spending -- a direct read on the engine of most developed economies.
What it is
Retail sales measures the total value of sales at retail stores over a period, typically reported MoM. In economies like the US where consumer spending is the majority of GDP, retail sales is one of the more direct, timely reads on whether growth is actually holding up, well ahead of the next GDP release.
How to read it
Core retail sales (excluding volatile categories like autos and sometimes gas) is often watched more closely than the headline for the same reason core CPI is watched over headline CPI -- it strips out swings that don't reflect the underlying spending trend. A strong beat generally supports a currency by suggesting the consumer, and by extension growth, is holding up better than expected.
Worked example
If headline retail sales are expected flat (0.0% MoM) and come in at +0.6%, while core sales (ex-autos) also beat at +0.5% against an expected +0.1%, that's a broad-based beat -- not just one category (like a car-sales spike) driving the whole number. A broad beat like this tends to get a stronger currency reaction than a headline beat carried by one volatile category.
See Retail Sales live
Macrolens tracks this release and scores it into the composite -- free to start, no credit card required.