According to data released by the US Department of Commerce and analyzed by IDEX Online, sales of watches and jewelry in the United States saw a further decline in April, with a 7.1% decrease.
Year-on-year sales had shown modest growth since May 2022 but fell below zero in October of the same year. Except for a marginal increase of 0.8% in January, sales have remained in negative territory ever since.
In April, jewelry sales fell by 7.5%, while watch sales experienced a 5.4% decline, averaging an overall decrease of 7.1%. Furthermore, the sales figures for March have been revised from -9.2% to -8.8%, based on actual sales data rather than estimations. The figures for February have also been adjusted from -6.8% to -6.5%.
According To IDEX Online, with consecutive months of high inflation, continuous interest rate hikes, and prevailing low consumer sentiment, the prospect of a recession looms large.
Read the full analysis here.