US clothing stores sales up 0.1% MoM, 36.6% YoY in August: NRF

Online and other non-store sales were up 5.3 per cent month-over-month seasonally adjusted and up 10.6 per cent unadjusted year-over-year.

The U.S. Census Bureau said overall retail sales in August were up 0.7 per cent seasonally adjusted from July and up 15.1 per cent year-over-year. That compares with a decline of 1.8 per cent month-over-month and an increase of 15.1 per cent year-over-year in July. Despite occasional month-over-month declines, sales have grown year-over-year every month since June 2020, according to Census data.

NRF’s calculation of retail sales – which excludes automobile dealers, gasoline stations and restaurants to focus on core retail – showed August was up 2.3 per cent seasonally adjusted from July and up 12 per cent unadjusted year-over-year. That compared with a month-over-month decrease of 1.8 per cent and a year-over-year increase of 8.9 per cent in July. NRF’s numbers were up 11.4 per cent unadjusted year-over-year on a three-month moving average.

For the first eight months of the year, sales as calculated by NRF were up 15 per cent over the same period in 2020. That is consistent with NRF’s revised forecast that 2021 retail sales should grow between 10.5 and 13.5 per cent over 2020 to between $4.44 trillion and $4.56 trillion.

“The consumer remains rock solid despite the trifecta of macroeconomic headwinds we’ve seen this year, including tapering off of government stimulus, elevated COVID-19 infections and ongoing supply chain challenges in the form of shortages of labour and goods. Higher sales came even with a disjointed back-to-school season that also affected the timing of sales as many school districts returned to in-person learning but some delayed classes until after Labor Day. These results pave the way for sturdy consumer spending and a strong economy in the fourth quarter,” NRF Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz said in a statement.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KD)