The Chicago Fed’s initial nowcast of retail & food services sales (ex autos) growth in May is +0.4 MoM and 4.4% YoY which would be up from 4.2% YoY in April.

• The final April nowcast was off significantly as actual retail sales were reported at +0.1% MoM, well above the -0.6% MoM CARTS estimate.
• The nowcast is based on positive contributions from all segments of the nowcast including foot traffic & sentiment and transactions.
• The nowcast for retail & food services sales (ex autos) price growth is 0.0% MoM and -0.1% YoY.
• With prices flat, the inflation adjusted retail sales growth rate would be +0.4% MoM.