Less than five hours after its release, the government's news that retail sales fell by 0.6 percent in February — compared to a 0.3 percent increase expected by economists and analysts — is buried way down (about 6-8 screens, depending on your computer) on the home page of Bloomberg News, where the focus is supposed to be on developments in business and the economy.
Instead, the web site's main top-of-page story on its home page at 1:30 p.m. Eastern Time was about how "you" are getting richer. No, really:
The track record of recent increases in net worth has been that a vastly disproportionate share of them has gone to those who were already very wealthy. The underlying article does point to gains in home values, but for all too many Americans, those increases only mean that they're less underwater on their mortgages then they were previously. The quoted Bloomberg expert claims that the gains are broad-based, but we won't really know that until the next time the Federal Reserve issues stratified wealth data including 2014's fourth quarter, which probably won't be until 2016.
As to the retail sales plunge, there really isn't an argument that it's newsworthy, given how "unexpectedly" weak it was compared to expectations. As to the excuse — you guessed it, the weather — February's bad weather was already known when the "experts" made their predictions, and thus should have already been considered:
Sales Fall as Record Cold in Parts of U.S. Hurts Retailers
Record cold in parts of the U.S. chilled retail sales in February as the world’s largest economy began the year on weak footing.
Purchases unexpectedly dropped 0.6 percent, a third consecutive decline, Commerce Department figures showed Thursday in Washington. The median forecast of 86 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a 0.3 percent gain. The decrease was broad-based, with 9 of 13 major categories retreating.
Frigid temperatures and snow probably contributed to slumping demand at auto dealers, building-material merchants and department stores, opening the possibility for a rebound this month. Still, sluggish wage increases may also be playing a role by prompting Americans to use the windfall from cheaper gasoline to build up savings or pay down debt.
“It looks like a big weather effect here,” said Carl Riccadonna, Bloomberg Intelligence chief U.S. economist, noting the declines in weather-sensitive categories including apparel, restaurants, building materials and vehicles. “A lot of February data is going to look muddy. This is just a blip. The consumer is just fine.”
Using the weather as an "unexpected" excuse is double-dipping and is simply not credible. If "experts" like "Bloomberg Intelligence chief U.S. economist" Riccadonna really don't consider the weather in their advance estimates, they should be replaced by those who do.
The larger point is that the retail sales plunge is news, and Bloomberg moved it way down its front page far more quickly than justified.
Shortly before I completed this post, Bloomberg changed its top story link to "American Mystery: Consumers Aren't Spending Even In a Booming Job Market." I don't suppose it's occurred to these clowns that this is no mystery at all, because the job market is not booming.
Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.
