The National Retail Federation, the world’s largest retail trade association, revealed in the latest edition of its Retail Monitor that retail sales “increased again in August as consumer demand and easing inflation overcame slower job growth.” Specifically speaking, total retail sales were up 0.45% seasonally adjusted month over month and up 2.11% unadjusted year over year in August. According to the Retail Monitor, August showed improvements over July which demonstrated increases of 0.74% month over month and 0.92% year over year.
“Retail sales data shows that consumers continued to spend on household priorities in August,” said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay. “This is despite a slowing labor market that is expected to prompt the Fed to finally lower interest rates in September. Even with slower employment growth, unemployment is near historical lows and ongoing job and wage gains coupled with lower inflation should keep consumers on solid footing heading into the holiday season. Lower interest rates take time to trickle down and won’t provide an immediate boost but should stabilize the economy.”
According to NRF, August sales were up (on a yearly basis) in five out of nine retail categories including online sales, clothing, accessories stores and health and personal care stores. Furniture and home furnishings stores were down 0.17% month over month and 2.57% year over year unadjusted. However, furniture and home furnishings stores was not the worst-performing category. Sporting goods, hobby, music and bookstores are down 2.89% month-over-month and 10.78% year-over-year unadjusted.
To view the full report, visit nrf.com/nrf/cnbc-retail-monitor.
Read on for more information regarding sales this year: Census Retail Sales Data for June Shows Modest Gains.
