Retail apparel prices in US see marginal increase in Oct: Cotton Inc

Notably, the year-over-year consumer price index (CPI) for apparel in October was 3 per cent higher, indicating that current price levels are significantly above those before the pandemic, with a 5.2 per cent increase compared to the average in 2019.

Conversely, average import prices for cotton-dominant apparel in the US saw a month-over-month decrease in October, dropping by $0.09 per square meter equivalent (SME). This value is 14.9 per cent lower than the peak in November 2022 but still registers a 6.6 per cent increase over the 2019 average, Cotton Inc said in its Executive Cotton Update for December 2023.

The Conference Board’s Index of Consumer Confidence in the US increased for the first time in four months in November, gaining 2.9 points to reach 102.0. This figure is in line with the holiday sales period data from the previous year, indicating a consistent consumer sentiment.

Overall consumer spending in the US showed a modest increase of 0.2 per cent month-over-month in October and a 2.2 per cent rise year-over-year. However, spending specifically on garments decreased, with a 0.6 per cent drop month-over-month and a 0.5 per cent decline year-over-year. This trend marks the eighth consecutive month of negative year-over-year apparel spending.

The holiday sales season in the US, commencing after Thanksgiving, revealed an encouraging start with spending growth nearly 8 per cent higher year-over-year, as reported by Adobe Analytics. This increase surpasses the National Retail Federation's projection of a 3-4 per cent rise for the entire shopping period.

The latest US GDP data exhibited the strongest quarterly growth rate since the post-COVID stimulus era, excluding 2020 and 2021 figures. This growth, the most significant since 2014, was largely fuelled by consumer spending, the Executive Cotton Update added.

In a broader perspective, the International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF) reported record-low business conditions in the apparel manufacturing sector across various regions and stages since 2021. US imports of cotton-dominant apparel in October were 21 per cent lower than the 2019 average, continuing a downward trend in imports since the previous year.

In November, the US economy added 199,000 jobs, with September's figures revised to 262,000 and October's unchanged at 150,000. The unemployment rate dropped to 3.7 per cent. Wage growth slowed to 4.0 per cent year-over-year in November, compared to the 5.9 per cent peak in March 2022. The overall inflation rate was 3.2 per cent in October.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KD)