Updated: 18-Jan-23 09:35 ET

December Retail Sales

Updated: 18-Jan-23 09:35 ET

Highlights

• Total retail sales, which are not adjusted for price changes, fell 1.1% month-over-month in December (Briefing.com consensus -0.8%) after falling a revised 1.0% in November (from -0.6%).
• Retail sales, excluding autos, also fell 1.1% month-over-month (Briefing.com consensus -0.5%) after falling a revised 0.6% in November (from -0.2%).

Key Factors

• Motor vehicle and parts dealers sales declined 1.2% after falling 2.6% in November.
• Furniture and home furnishing store sales declined 2.5% after falling 2.2% in November.
• Electronics and appliance store sales fell 1.1% after falling 1.2% in November.
• Building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers sales rose 0.3% after falling 3.1% in November.
• General merchandise sales declined 0.8%, led by a 6.6% drop in department store sales, after decreasing 0.2% in November.
• Clothing and clothing accessories store sales were down 0.3% after falling 0.8% in November.
• Sporting goods, hobby, musical instrument, and book store sales rose 0.1% after falling 0.3% in November.
• Gasoline station sales were down 4.6% after falling 1.6% in November.

Big Picture

• The key takeaway from the report is that sales in most discretionary categories fell for the second month in a row with department store sales diving 6.6% after falling 3.2% in November.

Category	DEC	NOV	OCT	SEP	AUG
Retail Sales	-1.1%	-1.0%	1.1%	-0.2%	0.7%
Excluding Autos	-1.1%	-0.6%	1.0%	-0.1%	0.2%
Durable goods
Building Materials	0.3%	-3.1%	1.2%	-0.7%	1.7%
Autos/parts	-1.2%	-2.6%	1.5%	-0.5%	2.9%
Furniture	-2.5%	-2.2%	2.0%	-2.1%	0.6%
Nondurable goods
General Merchandise	-0.8%	-0.2%	-0.3%	1.1%	0.3%
Food	0.0%	0.4%	1.2%	0.8%	0.4%
Gasoline stations	-4.6%	-1.6%	3.3%	-4.0%	-5.0%
Clothing	-0.3%	-0.8%	-0.4%	1.0%	1.0%
e*retailing/non-store	-1.1%	0.1%	1.0%	-0.1%	0.6%