With estimates of the relative change in real PCE goods between the months of the 3rd and the months of the 4th quarter, we are also able to estimate the change in real PCE goods between those two quarters.
Now that we have estimates of the percentage change in real PCE goods for all three months of the first quarter, we can also estimate the contribution that real PCE goods will make to 1st quarter GDP
Seasonally adjusted retail sales rose 0.5% in May after retail sales for March and April were revised slightly higher.. The Advance Retail Sales Report for May (pdf) from the Census Bureau estimated that our seasonally adjusted retail and food services sales totaled $455.6 billion for the month, which was an increase of 0.5 percent (±0.5%)* from April's revised sales of $453.6 billion and 2.5 percent (±0.7%) above the adjusted sales of May of last year.
Consumer prices for food and most goods and services were all up in February, but another big drop in energy prices dragged the overall index down. The Consumer Price Index Summary from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicated that seasonally adjusted prices fell by 0.2% in February after they had been unchanged in January and fallen 0.1% in December.
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