🇺🇸Cable FX Macro Weekly Note: U.S. Jan. Retail Sales

**As seen in Risk In The Week report 02/10/23, cablefxm.co.uk/reports

Retail sales contracted by 1.1% in December, this was a surprise to the median forecast of -0.9% M/m, the figure excluding autos fell by 1.1% M/m. Department store sales recorded the largest decline at 6.6% and marked its third consecutive month of contraction. Gasoline station sales fell by 4.6% following a prior -1.6%. Electronic sales extend for another month of declines as they fell by 1.1%. Sporting goods and building materials posted increments of 0.1% and 0.3%, respectively, food sales printed unchanged. The desk at CIBC expects retail sales to bounce back in January as they noted unit auto sales surging and an improvement in restaurant spending due to better weather. CIBC stands less optimistic than the median forecast at 1.6% M/m, while the forecast ranges from 0.5% to 2.9%. The desk adds that spending on discretionary goods could have been squeezed by higher gasoline prices and spending on services.