U.S. retail sales jumped 0.7 percent month-over-month in November. Growth was well spread out – from cars to clothing to furniture to electronic items. Gasoline, of course, was down – down 0.8 percent m/m. But that drop was not sufficient to offset good numbers in other categories.
Gasoline sales peaked as far back as October 2012. Particularly since May this year, they have dropped five-plus percent. As shown below, gasoline sales tend to track crude oil well. The WTI peaked in June at just under $108/barrel, and has dropped north of 40 percent since. That is a lot of dollars freed up for the consumers. And there is some catching up to do as far as the green line is concerned.
The chart below is retail sales ex gasoline. To smooth out monthly fluctuations, a three-month average is calculated. And it shows a nice upswing since early this year. Clearly, money saved from lower gas prices is finding its way to other categories.
