• by Ray Schultz , February 10, 2023

Retail sales jumped by 8.8% YoY in January in the U.S., according to Mastercard SpendingPulse. 

Ecommerce sales grew by 8.4% and in-store by 8.9%. Automotive is excluded from these results. 

"Consumer spending remains resilient in the first few weeks of 2023,” says Steve Sadove, Mastercard senior advisor and Former CEO of Saks, Inc. Sadove adds that “the overall retail story remains largely positive with January posting a solid month of growth across the country.”

Spending at restaurants jumped by 24.2% YOY, coming off the holidays. This also reflected a broad shift in consumer spending on services. 

In addition, the jewelry sector rose by 6.5% after nine months of stagnant growth. This could indicate early Valentine’s Day shopping. 

One area of softened growth was furniture & furnishings, which declined by 1.2% YoY. This was tied to the decline in home sales in 2022.

"The primary factor driving spending decisions is income – not just income today but the expectation for income tomorrow,” says Michelle Meyer, North America chief economist, Mastercard Economics Institute. 

Meyer adds: “The strength in the labor market remains a critical support for consumer purchasing power and we’re seeing this reflected in our SpendingPulse insights for January.”