May Retail Sales Rise 0.5%

The U.S. Census Bureau released advance estimates of retail and food services sales for May on Tuesday morning. Seasonally adjusted sales rose by 0.5% to $455.6 billion, compared with April 2016 sales of $453.4 billion, and rose 2.5% year over year. Total sales for the three-month period of March through May 2016 period were up 2.4% from a year ago.

The Census Bureau also revised its previous estimate of a 1.3% increase between March and April was unchanged.

Excluding motor vehicle and parts sales, month-over-month sales rose 0.4% and rose 2.7% year over year. Analysts were expecting a month-over-month increase of 1.3% and an increase of 0.4% excluding autos and auto parts. Gasoline station sales rose 2.1% month over month and were down 9.5% year over year, almost entirely due to lower gasoline prices.

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Sales were stronger across a broad range of products. Automobile sales rose 0.5% in May, compared with April, and were up 2.3% compared with May 2015. Building materials and garden supply sales slipped 1.8% compared with April but were up 3.6% year over year. Non-store retailers (i.e., online stores) saw sales rise by 1.3% compared with April, and online sales were up 12.2% year over year.

Electronics stores posted a month-over-month gain of 0.3% and a year-over-year decline of 3.1% in sales. Department stores posted a month-over-month decrease of 0.9% and a year-over-year decline of 5.8%.

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