For a few weeks, it looked like the U.S. consumer might have gone cold.
December retail sales came in flat despite the usual holiday rush as spending across categories like apparel, furniture and restaurants all softened over the month, according to data compiled by the Commerce Department. . . .
The last week of January brought the coldest end to the month since 1995 and the most snowfall in 60 years, according to the retail weather analytics firm Planalytics. Mall traffic plunged. Outlet center visits fell nearly 13% from a year earlier, and apparel retail traffic dropped more than 8%, the firm estimates.
So the question now for both Main Street retailers and Wall Street investors is whether the weather temporarily froze spending or exposed a deeper chill in consumer demand.
The answer depends on where you look.
First, the good news: Foot traffic data from Placer.ai shows that retail traffic had rebounded from those late January declines by the first week of February, with indoor malls up more than 7% and open-air shopping centers climbing nearly 8%.
In another sign of resilience, the Bank of America Institute’s latest “Consumer Checkpoint” report showed that January’s “total card spending per household rose 2.6% year-over-year” — the strongest pace in nearly two years — despite weather‑related disruptions.
Internal bank data also showed that the winter storm’s drag on spending was heavily concentrated in the South, lower Midwest and Northeast of the country, according to the report, released Thursday.
More than just the weather threatens to chill the consumer outlook this winter, however. . . .
