U.S. Retail Sales decrease in February. US Dollar falls.

March 13, 2008 - Forex Economic News

U.S. Retail Sales decreased in February according to a report by the U.S. Commerce Department released today helping press the US dollar lower against most major currencies. Advance estimates of February retail sales dipped 0.6 percent to $380.2 billion after January's 0.4 percent increase to $382.3 billion in sales. The retail sales data fell more than the market expectations which generally forecasted an increase of 0.2 percent in the sales numbers for February. Retail sales excluding autos were down 0.2 percent in February after increasing 0.5 percent in January. Auto sales showed a decline of 1.9 percent for February and have declined 4.2 percent from last February. Gas station sales showed a 2 percent decline after increasing the month before. On the positive side, February's retail sales numbers are 2.6 percent above the $367.6 total retail sales in February 2007 and retail sales are up 3.3 percent in the period of December through February compared to the same period last year.

The U.S. dollar has been trading lower against most of the major currencies today. The dollar fell to another record low against the euro and also reached a record low against the Swiss franc. It also dropped below 100 yen for the first time since 1995. The record low verses the euro reached 1.5624 dollars per one euro before retreating below 1.5600 while the USD/Swiss franc pair touched 1.0042 today.

Tags: usd/chf, eur/usd, usd/jpy, us retail sales, dollar, record lows

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