DIpil Das
Coresight Research’s measure of core retail sales is the unadjusted year-over-year change, excluding gasoline and automobiles. This metric stood at 7.4% in February, more than double January’s 3.5% rate.
[caption id="attachment_105615" align="aligncenter" width="700"]
Data is not seasonally adjusted
Source: US Census Bureau/Coresight Research [/caption] Retail Sales Decline Month Over Month The Census Bureau’s core metric is seasonally adjusted retail sales including automobiles and gasoline. Sales by this measure grew 4.2% year over year in February, slowing slightly from 4.7% in January. On a month-over-month basis and seasonally adjusted, retail sales declined 0.5% in February. [caption id="attachment_105616" align="aligncenter" width="700"]
Data is seasonally adjusted
Source: US Census Bureau [/caption] Retail Sales Growth by Sector Most sectors saw sequentially stronger growth in February, including furniture and home-furnishing stores, clothing stores, food and beverage stores, general merchandise stores and nonstore retailers. Sales at grocery stores jumped 8.5%, slightly above the overall food sector’s 8.3% growth, supported by coronavirus-led panic buying of food and household essentials at supermarkets, pharmacies and other stores that sell products people feared would be in short supply. Most shoppers bought longer-lasting grocery items, including canned goods, frozen vegetables and frozen fruits. In the week ending February 22, sales of fruit snacks rose 12.6%, dried beans grew 10.1% and pretzels were up 9%, according to Nielsen. Electronics and appliance stores continued to see sales increase, up 2.1% year over year in February, accelerating considerably from January’s 0.1% increase. Sales at department stores (a sub-set of general-merchandise stores) remained negative in February, falling 1.7% after January’s 3.9% slide. Clothing-store sales jumped 5.3% in February, following January’s more modest 2.2% increase. Nonstore retailer sales growth accelerated to 8.5% in February, from 6.4% in January. Gasoline station sales growth slowed to 6.2% in February. [caption id="attachment_105617" align="aligncenter" width="700"]
Data is not seasonally adjusted
Source: US Census Bureau/Coresight Research [/caption]
Data is not seasonally adjusted Source: US Census Bureau/Coresight Research [/caption] Retail Sales Decline Month Over Month The Census Bureau’s core metric is seasonally adjusted retail sales including automobiles and gasoline. Sales by this measure grew 4.2% year over year in February, slowing slightly from 4.7% in January. On a month-over-month basis and seasonally adjusted, retail sales declined 0.5% in February. [caption id="attachment_105616" align="aligncenter" width="700"]
Data is seasonally adjusted Source: US Census Bureau [/caption] Retail Sales Growth by Sector Most sectors saw sequentially stronger growth in February, including furniture and home-furnishing stores, clothing stores, food and beverage stores, general merchandise stores and nonstore retailers. Sales at grocery stores jumped 8.5%, slightly above the overall food sector’s 8.3% growth, supported by coronavirus-led panic buying of food and household essentials at supermarkets, pharmacies and other stores that sell products people feared would be in short supply. Most shoppers bought longer-lasting grocery items, including canned goods, frozen vegetables and frozen fruits. In the week ending February 22, sales of fruit snacks rose 12.6%, dried beans grew 10.1% and pretzels were up 9%, according to Nielsen. Electronics and appliance stores continued to see sales increase, up 2.1% year over year in February, accelerating considerably from January’s 0.1% increase. Sales at department stores (a sub-set of general-merchandise stores) remained negative in February, falling 1.7% after January’s 3.9% slide. Clothing-store sales jumped 5.3% in February, following January’s more modest 2.2% increase. Nonstore retailer sales growth accelerated to 8.5% in February, from 6.4% in January. Gasoline station sales growth slowed to 6.2% in February. [caption id="attachment_105617" align="aligncenter" width="700"]
Data is not seasonally adjusted Source: US Census Bureau/Coresight Research [/caption]