US retail trade sales in Aug up 0.1% MoM, 2% YoY: Census Bureau

Sales of non-store retailers were up by 7.8 per cent YoY.

Retail sales continued to grow in the month due to rising wages amid falling inflation, National Retail Federation (NRF) chief economist Jack Kleinhenz said in a statement.

“While sales growth decelerated from last month’s pace, there is little hint of consumer spending unraveling….Easing inflation is providing added spending capacity to cost-weary shoppers and the interest rate cuts expected to come from the Fed [Federal Reserve] should help create a more positive environment for consumers in the future,” Kleinhenz added.

August’s seasonally-adjusted core retail sales based on the census data, but excluding automobile dealers, gasoline stations and restaurants, were up by 0.3 per cent MoM and 3.3 per cent unadjusted YoY, NRF said.

Core retail sales were up by 3.4 per cent YoY for the first eight months of the year, in line with NRF’s forecast for 2024 retail sales to grow between 2.5 per cent and 3.5 per cent over the 2023 figure.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)