Friday, January 15, 2016

Retail Sales: December 2015

Today, the U.S. Census Bureau released its latest nominal read of retail sales showing declining activity in December with sales falling 0.1% from November but rising 2.2% on a year-over-year basis on an aggregate of all items including food, fuel and healthcare services.

Nominal "discretionary" retail sales including home furnishings, home garden and building materials, consumer electronics and department store sales improved, climbing 0.56% from November and rising 2.38% above the level seen in December 2014 while, adjusting for inflation, “real” discretionary retail sales increased 0.09% on the month and rose 1.12% since December 2014.