Retail Sales Rise Pretty Much Across the Board
Friday, March 12, 2010 at 03:06PM Economists were expecting retail sales to fall 0.2% from January to February, but the actual number came in at +0.3%. And the breadth of sales across categories was strong as well. As shown below, sales rose month-over-month for 10 of the 13 retail sales categories. The only two categories that saw declines were Health and Personal Care and Autos and Parts Dealers. Electronics & Appliances saw the biggest month-over-month gain in sales of 3.67%. Interestingly, Nonstore Retailers were flat in February. With the weather as bad as it was, one would think this category would have seen a pickup or at least have been stronger than other categories, but it had the third weakest sales growth.
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Reader Comments (1)
Department-Store-Type-Merchandise stores continue to fare well, gaining 0.8% in February. The US consumer is not willing or capable of purchasing cars or spending on the house but he is spending more on other discretionary goods.
Total DSTM sales bottomed last July, rising 3.8% during the last 7 months. DSTM sales are up 1.7% YoY in February and are only 0.3% below their July 2008 peak level.
See full post with charts at http://www.news-to-use.com/2010/03/us-february-retail-sales-good-ex-cars.html