US Retail Sales Rise More than Expected in World Economy News 21/04/2026 US retail sales rose sharply by 1.7% month-over-month in March 2026, surpassing market expectations of 1.4% and following an upwardly revised 0.7% increase in February. This marks the steepest growth since January 2023, driven largely by a 15.5% surge in gasoline station receipts as fuel prices spiked amid the escalating conflict with Iran. Sales also increased at motor vehicle and parts dealers (0.5%), furniture and home furnishing stores (2.2%), electronics and appliance stores (0.9%), building material and garden equipment suppliers (0.7%), food and beverage stores (0.7%), health and personal care stores (0.5%), general merchandise stores (1.0%), and nonstore retailers (1.0%). Additionally, core retail sales, which exclude food services, auto dealers, building materials, and gasoline stations, climbed 0.7%, exceeding forecasts of 0.2%. Source: Trading Economics 2026-04-21 hellenicshippingnews... window.___gcfg = {lang: 'en-US'}; (function(w, d, s) { function go(){ var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0], load = function(url, id) { if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;} js = d.createElement(s); js.src = url; js.id = id; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }; load('//connect.facebook.net/en/all.js#xfbml=1', 'fbjssdk'); load('https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js', 'gplus1js'); load('//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js', 'tweetjs'); } if (w.addEventListener) { w.addEventListener("load", go, false); } else if (w.attachEvent) { w.attachEvent("onload",go); } }(window, document, 'script')); tweet Share