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FR: Consumer Mfgd Goods Consumption
| Actual | Previous | Revised | |
| Month over Month | 0.1% | 0.2% | 0.4% |
| Year over Year | 2.9% | 2.2% | 2.5% |
Highlights
Consumers spent marginally more in May than they did in April for manufactured goods, registering a 0.1 percent month-on-month increase, while spending was up 2.9 percent compared to May of last year.
A 0.7 percent month on month gain for durable good spending was mitigated by 0.3 percent less spending on textiles and clothing and a 0.3 percent drop for other manufactured goods.
Energy prices which fell 3.2 percent month-on-month in April were 2.3 percent higher in May, although year-on-year spending fell 2.7 percent in May, extending a 1.8 percent drop the previous month.
Energy prices will continue to remain a concern so long as the conflict in the Middle East continues.
Definition
Consumption of manufactured goods by consumers is an indicator of consumer spending for household durable goods such as autos and furniture. The data are released separately as part of the report on total goods spending.
Description
This indicator is a measure of retail sales and is unique to France. It measures consumer spending for household durable goods such as autos and furniture. The data are seasonally and workday adjusted. These adjustments eliminate the fluctuations that are solely due to changes in the number of working days. The data appear to be particularly sensitive to the number of worked Saturdays. With consumer spending a large part of the economy, market players continually monitor spending patterns. Retail sales are a measure of consumer well-being.
The pattern in consumer spending is often the foremost influence on stock and bond markets. For stocks, strong economic growth translates to healthy corporate profits and higher stock prices. For bonds, the focus is whether economic growth goes overboard and leads to inflation. Ideally, the economy walks that fine line between strong growth and excessive (inflationary) growth.
Retail sales not only give you a sense of the big picture, but also the trends among different types of retailers. Perhaps auto sales are especially strong or apparel sales are showing exceptional weakness. These trends from the retail sales data can help you spot specific investment opportunities, without having to wait for a company's quarterly or annual report.