Today, the U.S. Census Bureau released its latest nominal read of Retail sales showing increasing activity in January with sales rising 0.4% from December climbing 5.6% on a year-over-year basis on an aggregate of all items including food, fuel and healthcare services.

Nominal "discretionary" retail sales including home furnishings, home garden and building materials, consumer electronics and department store sales increased 0.74% from December and rose 0.92% above the level seen in January 2016 while, adjusting for inflation, “real” discretionary retail sales increased 0.19% on the month but fell 1.58% since January 2016.