January Retail Sales Up 0.2%

The U.S. Census Bureau released advance estimates of retail and food services sales for January on Friday morning. Seasonally adjusted sales rose 0.2% to $449.9 billion, compared with December 2015 sales of $449.1 billion, and rose 3.4% year over year compared with January 2015. Total sales for the three-month period of November 2015 through January 2016 period were up 2.5% from a year ago.

Excluding motor vehicle and parts sales, sales rose 0.1% month over month and 2.5% year over year. Analysts were expecting a month-over-month gain of 0.2% and a rise of 0.1%, excluding autos and auto parts. Gasoline stations sales fell 3.1% month over month and are down 8.1% year over year, almost entirely due to lower gasoline prices.

Sales were stronger across a broad range of products. Automobile sales rose 0.6% in January compared with December and are up 6.9% compared with January 2015. Building materials and garden supply sales rose 0.6% compared with December, and they are up 5% year over year. Non-store retailers (i.e., online stores) saw sales rise 1.6% compared with December, and online sales are up 8.7% year over year.
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The monthly gains in sales were widespread, with only furniture and home furnishings stores (down 0.5%), sporting goods (down 2.1%), department stores (down 0.8%) and restaurants and bars (down 0.5%). Non-store retailers posted a month-over-month gain of 1.6% and are up 8.7% year over year. Auto dealers’ sales rose 0.5% month over month and 7.2% year over year. Sporting goods stores posted the largest annual gain, up 9.1%, which could be due to rising gun sales.