US Retail Activity Holds Steady in December Despite Forecasts

(MENAFN) Retail sales in the United States remained unchanged in December compared with the previous month, following a 0.6% increase in November, according to data from the US Census Bureau. Markets had anticipated a 0.4% rise, with total trade volume reaching $735 billion.

The strongest gains were recorded by building material and garden equipment retailers (+1.2%) and stores selling sporting goods, hobbies, musical instruments, and books (+0.4%). Smaller increases were seen at gasoline stations (+0.3%), food and beverage stores (+0.2%), and nonstore retailers (+0.1%).

Conversely, sales fell at miscellaneous store retailers (-0.9%), furniture outlets (-0.9%), and clothing stores (-0.7%). Other declines included electronics and appliance stores (-0.4%), motor vehicle and parts dealers (-0.2%), health retailers (-0.2%), food services and drinking establishments (-0.1%), and general merchandise stores (-0.1%).

Retail sales measures used in GDP calculations—which exclude food services, auto dealers, construction material stores, and petrol stations—slipped by 0.1% in December. On an annual basis, however, overall retail sales rose 2.4%.

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