Fed to Raise Rates Despite March’s Retail Sales Drop
Despite a slowdown in retail sales in March, first-quarter consumption could still be high enough to persuade the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates by a final 25 basis points in early May, Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist at Capital Economics, writes in a note. 
Below is an instruction that describes a task. Write a response that appropriately completes the request.

### Instruction: Fed to Raise Rates Despite March’s Retail Sales Drop

### Response: Despite a slowdown in retail sales in March, first-quarter consumption could still be high enough to persuade the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates by a final 25 basis points in early May, Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist at Capital Economics, writes in a note. 