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US footwear prices increases continue to cool off

Apr 20, 2023 United States

Retail footwear prices increased at a decelerating rate in March, up by 0.3% from the same period last year. This signals the slowest growth in 24 months for the category

Following the Federal Reserve's ninth consecutive rate hike to tap down inflation and the trajectory of the latest Consumer Price Index by the US Bureau of Labour Statistics, - which shows that consumer prices rose by 5% in March, the smallest 12-month increase since May 2021, from February’s 6% and January’s 6.4% year-over-year growth - footwear retail prices increases continue to slow down.

Retail footwear prices rose at a decelerating rate in March, up by 0.3% as compared to the same month in 2022. In particular, men's footwear prices were down by 2.3% in this period, women's footwear prices were up by 1.7% and kids' footwear prices increased by 2.2%, year-over-year. According to the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America (FDRA), these modest retail price increases for footwear come as input costs continue to rise faster.

“Year-to-date average landed costs of footwear imports are up 8.8% with year-to-date average hourly wages at shoe retailers up 22.4%”, said Gary Raines, chief economist at FDRA to Footwear News. “Input costs rising faster than retail prices suggest tighter margins, an issue that may be a key factor for the market in 2023”, he warned.

Source: footwearnews.com

Image Credits: timeout.com

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