Quick retail sales review

Core retail sales in August were about as expected when including a very slight upward revision to July. They rose .3% m/o/m after a .4% rise in the month before. They rose by 3.9% y/o/y in nominal terms.

The internals though were pretty mixed. Not included in the core, vehicle sales were basically flat m/o/m, down by one tenth following the June/July CDK software outage impact. Building materials were up .1% m/o/m but are down 2.2% y/o/y with the obvious challenges in housing. Within the core, sales were led by online retailing, up by 1.4% m/o/m and miscellaneous stores like pet, dollar and convenience but not much strength elsewhere. Sales fell for furniture, electronics, clothing, and department stores. They were also down for food/beverage after a jump in July. Sales were flat for restaurants/bars and rose by .3% for sporting goods but after a drop in July. Health/personal care sales continued with its steady gains.