Consumers Spent More in April Despite High Gas Prices

Gas prices are soaring because of the war in Iran. Paychecks are failing to keep up with inflation. Consumer sentiment is abysmal.

For now, Americans are still spending.

Retail sales, which are not adjusted for inflation, rose 0.5 percent in April from the previous month, the Census Bureau reported on Thursday. Sales, excluding cars and gasoline, increased 0.5 percent.

The figures show “a fairly bulletproof consumer overall,” said Thomas Simons, an economist at Jefferies. He noted that higher sales in discretionary categories such as electronics defied a belt-tightening narrative.

“It seems generally the U.S. consumer is not really changing their behavior really very much at all in response to the war in Iran,” he said.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/14/business/retail-sales-consumer-spending-april.html