Economics

Powell Says Fed Will Watch January Retail Sales Data for Rebound

Fed chairman looking at data after strange year-end drop
Data on January retail spending are due Monday in Washington

Paul Brian of Newton Investment Management talks about Federal Reserve policy, the U.S. economy and Treasuries. (Source: Bloomberg)

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By Jeanna Smialek

March 11, 2019 at 12:16 AM UTC

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Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the central bank will be watching retail sales data, due Monday, for signs that American consumer spending bounced back from a surprisingly weak end to 2018.

“We’re, of course, watching that,” Powell said in an interview with the CBS program “60 Minutes” broadcast Sunday. “The reason it’s a surprise is that we had lots of other reports of relatively healthy levels of spending over the holidays.”