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RAPAPORT... U.S. jewelry store sales rose 2.4 percent year on year to $2.492 billion in April. The rate of growth was exactly that for overall sales of jewelry and watches during the month, which improved 2.4 percent to $5.732 billion as reported earlier by Rapaport News. Jewelry store sales for the first four months of 2014 have improved 4 percent year on year to $9.814 billion. Overall jewelry and watch sales have increased 3.5 percent to $22.781 billion, according to Rapaport News calculations.  Meanwhile, advanced estimates for sales at department stores disappointed analysts by declining 1.5 percent in May to $13.838 billion. During April, department store sales had increased for the first time in more than one year. Advanced estimates for all product and food sales in the U.S. during May, however, jumped 4.3 percent year on year to $437.6 billion. Retail trade sales increased 4.3 percent and nonstore retail sales rose 7.4 percent in May. Also, the government revised April's retail sales growth rate slightly higher compared with March. "On one hand, the disappointment in May was offset by the upward revision to April. On the other hand, after an outsized increase in March, spending has now clearly lost momentum, declining further for the second consecutive month," according to Lindsey Piegza, the chief economist for Sterne Agee. The data revealed that automobile sales provided a boost to the growth rates for May, but excluding auto and gasoline station revenue, retail sales were flat, Piegza said in a note to clients. "In other words, after spending on a new car and filling up the tank, there was nothing left over for other goods this month," she added. While some analysts are anticipating a surge in retail sales due to pent-up consumer demand in coming months, Sterne Agee noted that shoppers haven't been "sitting at home since the start of the year, most were busy spending on other services." On average, the typical household's health care services jumped by $600, while utility costs surged $1,000, according to Sterne Agee. "In other words while we expect consumption to remain positive, any rise in goods consumption will likely be offset by a decline in service spending," Piegza wrote.
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