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Retailers successfully ‘navigate rough weather’

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WASHINGTON — After the devastation of this hurricane season it’s hard to find a silver lining, but there’s a glimmer in the latest sales report from the National Retail Federation (NRF) driven by increased demand for building supplies.

Retail sales — excluding automobiles, gasoline stations and restaurants — in September increased 0.5% over August on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to NRF, and were up 3.2% year over year unadjusted.

“Retail appears to have navigated through some rough weather — literally,” said NRF chief economist Jack Kleinhenz. “Hurricane impacts were very clear, with a strong boost for building materials going a long way to offset downturns elsewhere. Results were mixed among several business lines, but the bottom line was a good increase over August and strong growth from a year ago. While the hurricanes played a major role in the data, they did not fundamentally affect the upward path of the economy.”

September sales were up 3.6% on a three-month moving average compared with the same period a year ago, according to NRF.

Specifically, building materials and supplies stores showed the strongest increase, up 2.1% over August, seasonally adjusted, and up 7.7% unadjusted year over year. Online and other non-store sales were up 0.5% seasonally adjusted from August and up 5.8% unadjusted year over year. General merchandise and clothing and accessories stores also saw gains. However, electronics and appliance stores led declines, down 1.1% seasonally adjusted from August and down 5.3% unadjusted year over year. Furniture and home furnishings stores, health and personal care stores and sporting goods stores also dropped.

Total retail sales have grown year over year every month since November 2009, and retail sales as calculated by NRF — excluding automobiles, gasoline stations and restaurants — have increased year over year in all but one month since the beginning of 2010.


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