Updated: 13-Oct-17 09:50 ET
| September Retail Sales |
 |
|
| Updated: 13-Oct-17 09:50 ET |
Highlights
- Retail sales increased 1.6% in September, as expected, with increases in gasoline station (+5.8%), auto (+3.6%), and building material (+2.1%) sales all getting a hurricane-related boost and leading the way.
- Excluding transportation, auto sales increased 1.0% (Briefing.com consensus +0.8%) on the heels of an upwardly revised 0.5% increase (from +0.2%) in August.
Key Factors
- Electronics and appliance store sales declined 1.1% following a 1.5% decline in August
- Furniture and home furnishing store sales dropped 0.4% after increasing 0.3% in August
- Nonstore retailer sales increased 0.5% on the heels of a 0.4% decline in August
- Food and beverage store sales jumped 0.8% after increasing 0.5% in August
- General merchandise store sales rose 0.3% on top of a 0.4% increase in August
- Clothing and accessories store sales increased 0.4% after declining 0.6% in August
Big Picture
- The key takeaway from the report is that core retail sales, which exclude auto, gas, building material, and food services and drinking place sales, and which factor into GDP computations, increased a solid 0.6%.
| Category | SEP | AUG | JUL | JUN | MAY |
| Retail Sales | 1.6% | -0.1% | 0.5% | -0.1% | 0.0% |
| Excluding Autos | 1.0% | 0.5% | 0.5% | -0.2% | -0.2% |
| Durable goods | |||||
| Building Materials | 2.1% | 0.6% | 1.5% | 0.8% | -0.2% |
| Autos/parts | 3.6% | -2.1% | 0.3% | 0.4% | 1.1% |
| Furniture | -0.4% | 0.3% | -0.5% | 0.5% | 1.0% |
| Nondurable goods | |||||
| General Merchandise | 0.3% | 0.4% | 0.5% | 0.4% | -0.4% |
| Food | 0.8% | 0.5% | 0.5% | -0.6% | 0.0% |
| Gasoline stations | 5.8% | 4.1% | -0.5% | -1.4% | -3.1% |
| Clothing | 0.4% | -0.6% | 0.3% | 0.7% | 0.0% |
| e*retailing/non-store | 0.5% | -0.4% | 2.0% | -0.3% | 1.0% |
|
|