Blizzards, late Super Bowl blitzed sales.
Retail sales for CE and appliance dealers fell 4.2% last month, to $8.5 billion, and were flat from December, according to the US Commerce Department.
The downturn is likely related in part to the calendar shift for Super Bowl, which pushed TV sales into February, and to last month’s spate of extreme winter weather across much of the country.
However, furniture sales were up 4% for the month, while e-tailers and other direct sellers saw sell-through rise 8.7% year over year. Total retail sales excluding food services and automotive were up 3.1% in January.
The National Retail Federation is projecting the same level of sales growth (3.1%) for all of 2016.
The government figures are preliminary estimates and were adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading day differences, but not for price changes.