What To Expect From Retail Sales After The Trump Tax Cuts

Tax cuts have given a boost to Americans’ take-home pay this year. The question hanging over the U.S. economy is whether they are putting the extra cash toward savings and debt, or using it to go shopping. Retail-sales data due Monday from the Commerce Department will help provide an answer, and economists are betting that consumers finally opened up their wallets a little wider, thanks in part to the boost in paychecks as well as 2017 tax refunds from Uncle Sam. Sales probably rose 0.4 percent in March from the prior month, based on the median estimate of analysts. That would break a streak of three declines that was the longest such dip since 2015 and reflected the hangover from a debt-fueled, post-hurricane spending binge in the fourth quarter. Read more at Bloomberg.