WASHINGTON, April 14 (Xinhua) -- U.S. retail sales fell in March for a second straight month, pointing to a weaker economic growth in the first quarter of 2017, the Commerce Department reported Friday.
Retail sales edged down 0.2 percent from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted 470.8 billion U.S. dollars in March, following a 0.3 percent decrease in February, the Commerce Department said. Compared with a year earlier, total retail sales rose 5.2 percent last month.
In March, purchases of motor vehicle and parts fell 1.2 percent and sales of building material and garden equipment dropped 1.5 percent, while online retailers' sales climbed 0.6 percent. Excluding the volatile auto sales, total retail sales were unchanged from the previous month.
As consumer spending was a major driver of U.S. economic growth, the weaker-than-expected retail sales report in February and March suggested a slowdown of the U.S. economy in the first quarter of 2017.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta estimated Friday that the U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of 0.5 percent in the first quarter this year, down from 2.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2016.
The Commerce Department will release its advance estimate for U.S. gross domestic product in the first quarter of the year on April 28.
