April sales at furniture and home furnishings stores increased 0.7 percent over March sales and 3.6 percent over sales in April 2015, according to the monthly U.S. retail sales report issued by the Census Bureau.

Looking at other channels that sell home furnishings, last month’s sales at general merchandise stores were flat compared to March and up 0.5 percent over last year’s April. Sales at department stores (excluding leased departments) rose 0.3 percent over March but were down 1.7 percent from April 2015. Sales at nonstore retailers, including e-commerce and catalogs, increased 2.1 percent over March and 10.2 percent over last year’s April.

Overall, April retail sales totaled $453.4 billion on an adjusted basis, up 1.3 percent over March and 3 percent over April of last year. Sales gains were broad-based, including not only home furnishings but also apparel and online, according to a statement analyzing the data from the National Retail Federation.

The data “suggests that consumer activity, the primary driver of economic activity, has not lost its momentum,” said Jack Kleinhenz, NRF’s chief economist. “This sets the stage for an upturn in economic growth in the second quarter and should be encouraging for Federal Reserve policy makers as they contemplate interest rate adjustments.”

(Source: hfndigital.com  Author: David Gill)