February Retail Sales Slip 0.1%
The U.S. Census Bureau released advance estimates of retail and food services sales for February on Tuesday morning.
This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.
The U.S. Census Bureau released advance estimates of retail and food services sales for February on Tuesday morning. Seasonally adjusted sales slipped 0.1% to $447.3 billion, compared with January 2016 sales of $448.0 billion, and rose 3.1% compared with February 2015. Total sales for the three-month period of December 2015 through February 2016 period were down 0.4% from a year ago.
The Census Bureau also revised January 2016 sales totals downward, to down 0.4% from the prior estimate for a gain of 0.2%.
Excluding motor vehicle and parts sales, month over month sales fell 0.1% and rose 2.1% year over year. Analysts were expecting a month-over-month decline of 0.1% and a decline of 0.2% excluding autos and auto parts. Gasoline stations sales fell 4.4% month over month and are down 15.6% year over year, almost entirely due to lower gasoline prices.
[nativounit]
Sales were stronger across a broad range of products. Automobile sales slipped 0.2% in February compared with January but are up 7.1% compared with February 2015. Building materials and garden supply sales rose 1.6% compared with January and are up 12.2% year over year. Non-store retailers (i.e., online stores) saw sales drop by 0.2% compared with January, but they are up 6.3% year over year.
The monthly dips in sales were widespread, with furniture and home furnishings stores down 0.5%, department stores down 0.4% and grocery stores down 0.3%. Sporting goods stores posted an annual gain of 6.7%.
Electronics stores posted a month-over-month drop of 0.1% and a year-over-year decline of 3.2% in sales.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
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.
