by Wolf Richter
Wolf Street
Consumers are still spending like drunken sailors, especially online, now that they don’t have to blow so much on gasoline anymore.
Retail sales in February dipped 0.4% from the huge spike in January, to $698 billion, seasonally adjusted, the second highest ever, just a hair below January, when sales had spiked by 3.2%, preceded by declines in December and November, and by a jump in October. You see, this data is volatile.
So is this tiny dip in February off the huge spike in January a sign that consumers are tapped out?