"Retail Sales MoM" (Month-over-Month) data for September 17, 2024, at 12:30 UTC, with the following details:
Actual: 0.1
Forecast: -0.2
Previous: 1.1
Here's what this means:
Retail Sales MoM reflects the change in the total value of sales at the retail level compared to the previous month. A positive value indicates growth, while a negative value indicates a decline.
Actual: 0.1% growth in retail sales compared to the previous month. This is better than the Forecast of -0.2% (which predicted a slight contraction in retail sales).
Previous: 1.1%, meaning the growth in the previous month was much higher than this month.
Is this good?
The actual result of 0.1% is better than expected because the forecast was negative. Although the growth is lower than the previous month, any positive figure is a good sign for the economy as it shows that consumer spending is still increasing, albeit at a slower rate.
In terms of market impact, better-than-expected retail sales data can be seen as positive for the economy and could potentially strengthen the currency of the region this data applies to.