Commerce and NRF report July retail sales gains

United States retail sales saw sequential and annual gains in July, according to data issued today by the Department of Commerce and the National Retail Federation (NRF). 

Commerce reported the July retail sales­­, at $523.5 billion, were up 0.7% over June and up 3.4% annually. And it added that total retail sales from May through July were up 3.3% compared to the same period a year ago.

Looking at specific retail segments, Commerce reported that retail trade sales rose 0.6% annually, with nonstore retailers (which includes e-commerce sales) up 16% and miscellaneous sales increased 6%.

NRF reported that July retail sales increased 0.9% on a seasonally adjusted basis and 5.6% on an unadjusted annual basis. NRF’s figures do not include retail sales data from automobile dealers, gasoline stations, and restaurants.

NRF officials said that these numbers follow the recent announcement by the White House to delay some of its recently announced new tariffs that were set to take effect on September 1 to December 15 to lessen the impact of tariffs on holiday spending.

And it added that as of July, the three-month moving average was up 3.5% annually, compared with 3.7 percent in June, with July’s results building on gains of 0.6% month-over-month and 2.2% year-over-year seen in June.

“July’s strong results are consistent with a confident consumer,” NRF Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz said. “Households are in good shape with spending and that should continue as long as the labor market remains healthy. But it’s important to remember that today’s data is looking backward at what was happening a month ago. The impact of volatile financial markets and increased trade tensions in recent weeks may put a wind of caution in consumer spending as we move forward in 2019.”

Key retail sales segments, for July, cited by the NRF include:

• Online and other non-store sales were up 19.3 percent year-over-year and up 2.8 percent month-over-month seasonally adjusted, likely boosted by Amazon’s Prime Day promotion;
• Health and personal care stores were up 6.1 percent year-over-year but down 0.2 percent month-over-month seasonally adjusted;
• Grocery and beverage stores were up 4 percent year-over-year and up 0.6 percent month-over-month seasonally adjusted;
• General merchandise stores were up 2.1 percent year-over-year and up 0.6 percent month-over-month seasonally adjusted;
• Furniture and home furnishings stores were up 2 percent year-over-year and up 0.3 percent month-over-month seasonally adjusted;
• Sporting goods stores were up 2 percent year-over-year but down 1.1 percent month-over-month seasonally adjusted; 
• Building materials and garden supply stores were down 0.5 percent year-over-year but up 0.2 percent month-over-month seasonally adjusted;
• Clothing and clothing accessory stores were down 1.6 percent year-over-year but up 0.8 percent month-over-month seasonally adjusted; and
• Electronics and appliance stores were down 2.3 percent year-over-year but up 0.9 percent month-over-month seasonally adjusted