Americans not shopping, new problem for Trump

United States President Donald Trump keeps pushing "Buy American." But the startling reality is Americans are not spending much money on anything right now, regardless of where it is made.

Retail sales fell in February and March from last month, reports CNN according to the Commerce Department. Shoppers haven't been this stingy since early 2015, and it very well may hurt the economy.

The US is on track for very slow 0.5 percent growth in first three months this year, according to the latest estimates from Macroeconomic Advisers and the Atlanta Federal Reserve. That falls massively short of the 4 percent growth that Trump has promised.

Trump loves to plug how Americans' confidence in the economy has skyrocketed since he won the election. He's right. Consumers, businesses (big and small) and investors are all feeling a lot more optimistic, according to various surveys, reports CNN.

But all that enthusiasm isn't translating into more shopping, which drives the US economy. About 70 percent of the American economy comes from people buying stuff.

Kate Warne, a long-time investment strategist at Edward Jones, calls this the era of "skeptical optimism."

"People are more optimistic, but they're skeptically optimistic," Warne told CNNMoney. "I don't think they are confident yet that things will change as much as they would like them too."

Perhaps the best hope for Trump is that spring sunshine drives people to shop again. It's happened before. In fact, it's happened frequently in recent years where Americans stay home during the winter and then the economy really picks up in the spring and summer.

Macroeconomic Advisers, for instance, is predicting 3.6% growth for the second quarter (April through June).

But that won't be enough for Trump to show he's delivering a better economy than Obama did.