Retail sales in the United States were stronger than expected in March, driven, in part, by a surge in demand for motor vehicles before expansive new U.S. tariffs kicked in, data from the Commerce Department’s Census Bureau showed on April 16.
Retail sales increased by 1.4 percent last month following an unrevised 0.2 percent rise in February, with sales amounting to $734.9 billion, according to the bureau’s numbers, which are adjusted for seasonality but not prices. That figure represents a 4.6 percent increase from March 2024.
