NRF

Commerce reported that May retail sales at $455.6 billion rose 0.5 percent over April, and the NRF said retail sales saw a 3.2 percent annual increase in May.

Coming off of a very sluggish first quarter, retail sales in the month of April showed somewhat of a bounce back in tandem with signs of spring, according to data issued today by the United States Department of Commerce and the National Retail Federation.

March retail sales at $446.9 billion were off 0.3% from February and up 1.7%, and the NRF said retail sales saw a 5.8% annual increase in March.

While retail sales numbers issued for the month of February by the United States Department of Commerce and National Retail Federation were technically mixed, they each shared a common theme of little or negative growth.

Estimate comes in higher than the 10-year average of 2.7%, but falls short of the NRF’s 2015 estimate of 4.1%.

Commerce reported that October retail sales at $447.3 billion were up 0.1% compared to October and up 1.7% annually, and NRF reported that October retail sales, which exclude automobiles, gas stations, and restaurants, were up 3.1% annually and up 0.3% on a seasonally adjusted basis compared to September.

Commerce reported that September retail sales at $447.7 billion were up 0.1 percent compared to August, following a 0.2 percent July to August increase, and were up 2.4 percent compared to September 2014. And the NRF reported that September retail sales, which exclude automobiles, gas stations, and restaurants, were up 3.3 percent annually and down 0.1 percent on a seasonally-adjusted basis compared to August.

Commerce reported that August retail sales at $447.7 billion were up 0.2 percent compared to July, and NRF reported that August retail sales, which exclude automobiles, gas stations, and restaurants, were up 0.2 percent on a seasonally-adjusted basis compared to July.

June declines, but the second quarter was still up 2% from last year.

Following a stretch of very modest retail sales gains in recent months, a more positive performance in May, based on data issued by the United States Department of Commerce and the National Retail Federation (NRF) could potentially pave the way for more meaningful gains in coming months.

Commerce reported that February retail sales at $437.0 billion were down 0.6 percent compared to January and up 1.7 percent compared to January 2014, and the NRF said that February retail sales, which exclude automobiles, gas stations, and restaurants, dipped 0.2 percent seasonally-adjusted month-to-month compared to January and increased 3 percent annually on an unadjusted basis.

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Early reports fall short of projections, but the final verdict is yet to come.

On the heels of a sluggish September and with the holiday shopping season officially having commenced, the retail sector received a bit of good news today, with both the National Retail Federation (NRF) and the United States Department of Commerce issuing positive retail sales data for the month of October.

Following 3.1% growth in 2013, holiday sales expected to reach $616.9 billion.