October Retail Sales Sharply Higher Nearly Across the Board

By Paul Ausick Updated Apr 28, 3:01AM EDT · Published Nov 14, 9:05AM EST

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The U.S. Census Bureau released advance estimates of retail and food services sales for October on Friday morning. Seasonally adjusted sales rose 0.3% to $444.5 billion, compared with September sales of $443 billion, and rose 4.1% year-over-year compared with October 2013. Total sales for the three-month period of August through October 2014 period were up 4.5% from a year ago, unchanged from last month’s report.

Excluding motor vehicle and parts sales, sales rose 0.3% month-over-month and 3.3% year-over-year. Analysts were expecting a month-over-month gain of 0.2% and a rise of 0.5%, excluding autos and auto parts. Gasoline stations sales fell 1.5% month-over-month and are down 4% year-over-year, almost entirely due to lower gasoline prices.

Analysts had forecast a gain of 0.2% month-over-month, and the 0.3% gain is doubly unexpected due to the sharp drop in gasoline station sales.

Sales were stronger across a broad range of products. Automobile sales rose 0.5% in October, compared with September, and are up 8.3% compared with October 2013. Building materials and garden supply sales rose 0.4% compared with September and are up 6.4% year-over-year. Non-store retailers (i.e., online stores) saw sales rise 1.9% compared with September, and online sales are up 6.8% year-over year. All these measures were lower month-over-month.

The monthly gains in sales were widespread, with only electronics (down 1.6%) and department stores (down 0.3%) joining gas stations to post lower sales. In September, electronics was the highest growth sector, up 3.4%, likely due to the introduction of the new iPhones from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL). Without a new “must-have” product, electronics sales fell sharply.

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About the Author Paul Ausick →

Paul Ausick has been writing for 247Wallst.com for more than a decade. He has written extensively on investing in the energy, defense, and technology sectors. In a previous life, he wrote technical documentation and managed a marketing communications group in Silicon Valley.

He has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Chicago and now lives in Montana, where he fishes for trout in the summer and stays inside during the winter.