US Retail Sales Rise 0.9% To $677B In April

US retail sales rose 0.9% in April, in line with market expectation, according to Commerce Department figures released on Tuesday.

Retail sales in the US climbed to $677.7 billion last month, from the previous month. They posted an 8.2% gain from the same month of last year.

The figure in March stood at $671.6 billion, a monthly increase of 1.4%.

"Gasoline stations were up 36.9% from April 2021, while food services and drinking places were up 19.8% from last year," the Census Bureau said in a statement.

The slight gain in retail sales suggests that US consumer demand is still weak.

Annual consumer inflation in the US soared 8.5% in March, the largest 12-month increase since December 1981, the US Labor Department said on Tuesday.

Consumer inflation in April saw an 8.3% increase on an annual basis, still hovering around its highest level in more than 40 years. -