Eye on retail

The Commerce Department serves up its monthly tally of U.S. retail sales today.

Economists predict sales at restaurants, shops and other retailers rose a seasonally adjusted 0.9% in April from the previous month. That would follow a 0.8% increase in March. The retail report covers only about a third of overall consumer spending and doesn’t include services such as haircuts, hotel stays and plane tickets, categories that have been rebounding from the depths of the pandemic.