IDEX Online Research: US Jewelry Sales Increase By 2.4% in April

Jewelry and watch sales in the U.S. increased by 2.4 percent on the year in April to $5.73 billion, based on preliminary US government figures.

There was some good news, however, in that the figures for the first three months of the year were revised upwards from relatively low levels stated in the month-earlier statistics.

The figures for January, February and March reported last month were 2.8 percent, 2.3 percent and 2.3 percent, respectively. However, the official statistics for April show a revision upwards to 3.9 percent, 3.7 percent and 4.1 percent, respectively.

Consequently, there is good reason to believe that the figure for April of just 2.4 percent may also be revised upwards when the statistics for May are published.

A revision of the dimensions seen for the first three months of this year would show that the monthly rate of growth since December has been consistent at around 4.0 percent.

That rate of growth is substantially down on the performance through almost all of 2013 when the lowest monthly rate of growth in sales was 6.1 percent, reaching all the way up to more than 11.0 percent last April.

Total Jewelry Sales +2.4%

Jewelry sales alone, excluding watches, increased by 2.2 percent on the year in February to $2.49 billion, based on US Department of Commerce data.

Outlook

There is no doubt that retail jewelry sales have softened over the past 5-6 months. Is this a harbinger of things to come or just a temporary breather being taken by US consumers? This year was widely touted as a breakout year for the US economy, however ongoing economic problems at home and abroad, such as turgid growth in Europe, are preventing the American economy from taking off.

The full analysis of the polished prices data is available to IDEX Online Research subscribers and IDEX Online members here.