U.S. retail sales improved in May 2019, putting at rest expectations that the US economy would be shrinking following poor reports from the job market in recent months. monthly jobs report.
Various American news sources quoted a Commerce Department report that said that retail sales had risen 0.5 percent last month in May, while what had initially been reported as a 0.2 percent decrease in April's retail sales was revised upward to a .3 percent increase.
Sales of motor vehicles, building materials, garden equipment, furniture, electronics, appliances, online and mail-order purchases, hobbies, music, books, and eating and drinking out ???,?" saw increases in May, according to the report.
The Labor Department had reported earlier that the US economy had added only 75,000 jobs in May, well below analyst predictions of 175,000 new jobs. Jobs gains for the previous two months were also revised downward by 75,000. Unemployment remains at 3.6 percent, a 50-year low, while wages have grown only 3.1 percent since this time last year.