We would suffer too many subdural hematomas if we were to comment on this most recent outbreak of the “idiot meteorologist” syndrome by Bank of America below.
Our internal BAC card (debt and credit) retail ex. gas spend data for the first week of March again showed only a modest 1.7% increase relative to the same period last year. While last week’s growth was the same as the 1.7% YoY increase reported for the month of February, it was still significantly below 4.9% YoY growth rate during the first week of March last year. However, once againadverse weather potentially impacted spending last week, as the storm “Titan†moved across the US over the weekend of March 1st and 2nd and was followed by yet another cold spell. Temperatures subsequently rebounded this week, suggesting this week’s reading could provide a cleaner read of the underlying spending trends.
Meteorology 101: for all your “economic forecasting” needs.
