A discouraging retail sales report has created new worries for investors. In December, the central bank had mentioned that strong retail sales were one of the reasons for its decision to raise rates after a seven-year hiatus.

However, there are still some bright spots in retail which offer great choices for the discerning investor. A strong jobs market and other positive economic indicators mean that it still makes good sense to add such stocks to your portfolio.

Feb Sales Fall, Jan Data Revised Downward

According to the Commerce Department, retail sales declined 0.1% in February, in line with the consensus estimate, to $447.3 billion. Even so, the metric registered a 3.1% year-over-year increase. What was particularly disappointing was the downward revision to January’s data. Retail sales for January were revised downward from an initial estimate of a 0.2% increase to a 0.4% decline.

Of the 13 categories, 8 experienced lower sales last month. Sales for furniture stores slipped 0.5% while electronics and appliance store sales fell 0.1%. However, auto-related categories were the major losers over the month. Gasoline station receipts were understandably 4.4% lower. At the same time, motor parts and vehicle dealers experienced a 0.2% decline in sales.

Bright Spots amid Gloom

But it wasn’t doom and gloom for the retail sector. Sales at food services and drinking places increased 1% over the last month and experienced a 6.4% year-over-year increase. Building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers’ sales jumped 12.2% year over year. Additionally, clothing and accessories store sales increased 0.9% while sporting goods, hobby, book and music stores witnessed 1.2% growth in sales.

Meanwhile, another report showed that PPI declined 0.2% following a 0.1% increase in January. Following these two sets of data, several economists have raised questions about the state of the economy. However, there are other reports suggesting otherwise. Personal consumption expenditure price index (PCE) increased 1.3% year over year in January, the highest gain since Oct 2014. Data on the ISM manufacturing and services index as well as construction spending has also been encouraging.