The Chicago Fed’s nowcast of retail & food services sales (ex autos) growth in February is confirmed at -0.7% MoM, but the annual rate forecast was downgraded -0.2 ppts to 2.3% YoY.

• Transaction data accounts for almost all of the nowcasted contraction at -0.59 ppts with foot traffic & sentiment data making a smaller contribution of -0.19 ppts.
• The nowcasted price index for retail & food services (ex autos) is confirmed at 0.1% MoM and 0.4% YoY.