Retail Sales Growth Masks Consumer Pullback Across Key Categories

Retail sales rose again in April, but the latest government data showed consumers continuing to shift spending toward necessities while pulling back in several categories tied to discretionary purchases and larger household items. Advance estimates from the Census Bureau on Thursday (May 14) showed retail and food services sales increased 0.5% in April from March and were up 4.9% year over year. Yet the underlying category data pointed to mounting pressure on household budgets as higher energy a