Here's the table that shows Amazon crushing department stores in real time (AMZN, M, JWN, WMT)
January retail sales were a beat.
Excluding autos and gas sales rose 0.4% in January compared to the prior month, beating expectations for a 0.3% increase.
The retail sales control group — which includes items included in the personal consumption expenditures component of the GDP report — increase 0.6% in January, better than the 0.3% increase that was expected.
So overall, a strong report and the latest evidence that we're not heading towards recession.
Inside the report we also got more insight on one of our favorite economic shifts happening right now: Amazon beating everybody.
In the table below we can see the continued decline in sales at department stores and the increase in sales at nonstore retailers (which includes things like Amazon, eBay, and QVC).
And simply put, we are watching Amazon crush the competition in real time.
Census