On March 16, U.S. time, the U.S. Department of Commerce released the latest monthly retail trade report. According to the report, sales of furniture and household goods totaled $12.32 billion in February, down 1.0% month-on-month from $12.441 billion in the previous month and up 7.4% year-on-year from $11.471 billion in February 2021. Overall, in the first two months of 2022, overall furniture consumer demand has slowed down. Conversely, over the past month, building materials and gardening equipment and supplies dealers recorded sales of $43.615 billion, up 0.9% from $43.217 billion in January 2022 and from $37.984 billion in February 2021 The U.S. dollar rose 14.8% year over year.