Encouraging Signs for US Watch and Jewelry Sales
April 07, 24
(IDEX Online) - Watch and jewelry sales in the US showed encouraging signs during in February, up by 5.8 per cent after a disappointing January (up 0.6 per cent).
Spending on Valentine's Day jewelry was predicted by the National Retail Federation (NRF) to hit a record $6.4bn as the economy showed signs of relative stability. January's poor performance has been attributed, in part, to a significant drop in the sale of loose diamonds, which represent over a fifth of all jewelry sales.
Exports of Swiss watches during February showed their first significant decline - down 3.8 per cent - after more than two years of steady growth.
New figures from the US Department of Commerce show that sales in December were slightly better than initially reported, up 6 per cent rather than 5.8 per cent, based on actual rather than estimated transactions. Likewise, sales figure for 2023 have been slightly increased.
Jewelry sales rose by 5.6 per cent and watch sales were up by 6.5 per cent during February, an average increase of 5.8 per cent.
