US retail sales crater again in April

US retail sales collapsed last month as lockdowns to brake the Covid-19 pandemic's advance across the country kept consumers indoors and Americas kept their wallets shut even as many were forced to join unemployment queues.

According to the Department of Commerce, in seasonally adjusted terms, US retail sales volumes shrank at a month-on-month pace of 16.4% to reach $403.95bn (consensus: -10.7%).

That followed an already dire 8.3% drop in retail sales during March.

In comparison to a year ago, retail sales were 21.6% lower.

The total tally for April excluding automobile sales was even worse with sales down by 17.2%.

Compared against March, sales of furniture shrank by 58.7%, those of electronics by 60.6%, those at gasoline stations by 28.8% and those for clothing by 78.8%.