Demand rebounded according to the US Census Bureau:
Advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for January 2023, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, were $697.0 billion, up 3.0 percent (±0.5 percent) from the previous month, and up 6.4 percent (±0.7 percent) above January 2022. (See chart below). The inventory to sales ratio also improved (see second chart below), despite the bounce back from a couple of softer months. Many are concerned about what this signals for inflation, but the supply chain implications are mostly positive. (More and more and more.)
