How are American Retail Sales Comparing?

American Retail Sales

Today's retail sales figures disappointed, with a sharp downward revision for January and continued weakness in February.  Retail sales in the U.S. are now floating at just 3.1% year-on-year.

The U.S. retail picture comes after Saturday's weaker-than-expected Chinese retail sales figure of 10.2% year-over-year.

Question: How are American consumers holding up compared to consumers in China, Europe, Russia, Brazil, and the other big country-categorized economies?

Here's a look.

The Americans

First, here's the U.S. retail sales picture.

A couple of words sums up the American consumer - needing propulsion.

At just 3.1% Y/Y, retail sales are well below what would be considered a healthy range for an economic boom.  The American consumer needs something to propel them forward, and there's no...