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ADVANCE MONTHLY SALES FOR RETAIL AND FOOD SERVICES SUMMARY - February 2012
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Intention to Revise Retail Estimates: Monthly retail sales estimates will be revised based on the results of the 2010 Annual Retail Trade Survey. Revised not adjusted estimates and corresponding adjusted estimates are scheduled for release on April 30, 2012.
The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for February, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, were $407.8 billion, an increase of 1.1 percent (±0.5%) from the previous month and 6.5 percent (±0.7%) above February 2011. Total sales for the December 2011 through February 2012 period were up 6.4 percent (±0.5%) from the same period a year ago. The December 2011 to January 2012 percent change was revised from 0.4 percent (±0.5)* to 0.6 percent (±0.2%).
Retail trade sales were up 1.1 percent (±0.5%) from January 2012 and 6.3 percent (±0.7%) above last year. Building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers sales were up 13.8 percent (±2.6%) from February 2011 and gasoline stations were up 10.3 percent (±1.7%) from last year.
The advance estimates are based on a subsample of the Census Bureau’s full retail and food services sample. A stratified random sampling method is used to select approximately 5,000 retail and food services firms whose sales are then weighted and benchmarked to represent the complete universe of over three million retail and food services firms. Responding firms account for approximately 65% of the MARTS dollar volume estimate. For an explanation of the measures of sampling variability included in this report, please see the Reliability of Estimates section on the last page of this publication.
* The 90 percent confidence interval includes zero. The Census Bureau does not have sufficient statistical evidence to conclude that the actual change is different than zero.
The Advance Monthly Sales for Retail and Food Services for March is scheduled to be released April 16, 2012 at 8:30 a.m. EDT.
TABLE 1A. ESTIMATED MONTHLY SALES FOR RETAIL AND FOOD SERVICES, BY KIND OF BUSINESS--February 2012
Estimates adjusted for seasonal variations and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes.
(Total sales estimates are shown in millions of dollars and are based on data from the Advance Monthly Retail Trade Survey, Monthly Retail Trade Survey, and administrative records.)(2)
(In Millions of dollars)
2012 2012 2011 2011 2011
NAICS(1) Kind of Business Feb(3) Jan Dec Feb Jan
Code (a) (p) (r) (r) (r)
Retail & food services, total.................... 407,805 403,508 401,002 382,974 379,736
Total (excl. motor vehicle & parts)............ 335,270 332,116 328,440 315,129 312,268
Retail ....................................... 364,382 360,448 358,540 342,837 340,338
GAFO(4).......................................... (*) 99,943 98,954 96,609 94,829
441 Motor vehicle & parts dealers.................... 72,535 71,392 72,562 67,845 67,468
4411,4412 Auto & other motor veh. dealers................. 65,576 64,366 65,736 61,246 60,972
442 Furniture & home furnishings stores.............. 7,915 8,008 7,821 7,311 7,161
443 Electronics & appliance stores.................... 8,257 8,178 8,191 8,372 8,293
44311,13 Appl., T.V. & camera........................... (*) 6,319 6,316 6,531 6,435
44312 Computer & software stores...................... (*) 1,859 1,875 1,841 1,858
444 Building material & garden eq. & supplies dealers 27,036 26,651 26,293 23,758 24,127
4441 Building mat. & supplies dealers................ (*) 21,420 21,087 19,096 19,434
445 Food & beverage stores........................... 52,295 52,145 51,566 50,444 50,074
4451 Grocery stores.................................. 46,764 46,642 46,126 45,133 44,897
4453 Beer, wine & liquor stores...................... (*) 3,752 3,701 3,665 3,569
446 Health & personal care stores.................... 23,176 23,151 23,166 22,733 22,744
44611 Pharmacies & drug stores........................ (*) 19,252 19,203 18,992 19,277
447 Gasoline stations................................ 46,875 45,383 44,552 42,505 41,904
448 Clothing & clothing accessories stores........... 19,741 19,400 19,262 18,396 18,208
44811 Men's clothing stores........................... (*) (S) (S) (S) (S)
44812 Women's clothing stores......................... (*) 3,319 3,295 3,164 3,025
4482 Shoe stores..................................... (*) 2,340 2,363 2,234 2,234
451 Sporting goods, hobby, book & music stores....... 7,605 7,533 7,374 7,374 7,104
452 General merchandise stores....................... 53,672 53,705 53,259 52,144 51,145
4521 Department stores (ex. L.D.).................... 15,489 15,257 15,253 15,458 15,274
4521 Department stores (incl. L.D.)(5)............... (*) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)
4529 Other general merchandise stores................ (*) 38,448 38,006 36,686 35,871
45291 Warehouse clubs & supercenters................. (*) 33,400 33,153 32,170 31,404
45299 All other gen. merchandise stores.............. (*) 5,048 4,853 4,516 4,467
453 Miscellaneous store retailers.................... 10,567 10,534 10,099 9,967 9,607
454 Nonstore retailers............................... 34,708 34,368 34,395 31,988 32,503
4541 Electronic shopping & mail-order houses......... (*) 26,383 26,537 24,266 24,713
722 Food services & drinking places.................. 43,423 43,060 42,462 40,137 39,398
(*) Advance estimates are not available for this kind of business.
(NA) Not available (S) Suppressed (a) Advance estimate (p) Preliminary estimate (r) Revised estimate
(1) For a full description of the NAICS codes used in this table, see http://www.census.gov/eos/www/naics
(2) Estimates are concurrently adjusted for seasonal variation and for holiday and trading day differences, but not for price changes. Concurrent seasonal adjustment
uses all available unadjusted estimates as input to the X-12 ARIMA program. The factors derived from the program are used in calculating all seasonally
adjusted estimates shown in this table. Year-to-date seasonally adjusted sales estimates are not tabulated. Adjustment factors and explanatory material can be found
on the Internet at http://www.census.gov/retail
(3) Advance estimates are based on early reports obtained from a small sample of firms selected from the larger Monthly Retail Trade Survey (MRTS) sample.
All other estimates are from the MRTS sample.
(4) GAFO represents firms which specialize in department store types of merchandise and is comprised of furniture & home furnishings (442), electronics & appliances (443),
clothing & clothing accessories (448), sporting goods, hobby, book, and music (451), general merchandise (452), office supply, stationery, and gift stores (4532).
(5) Estimates include data for leased departments operated within department stores. Data for this line are not included in broader kind-of-business totals.
TABLE 1B. ESTIMATED MONTHLY SALES FOR RETAIL AND FOOD SERVICES, BY KIND OF BUSINESS--February 2012
Estimates not adjusted for seasonal variations and holiday and trading-day differences and price changes.
(In Millions of dollars and Annual Percent Change)
2 month total
% Chg. 2012 2012 2011 2011 2011
NAICS(1) Kind of Business 2012 from Feb(2) Jan Dec Feb Jan
Code 2011 (a) (p) (r)
Retail & food services, total.................... 742,468 8.2 379,522 362,946 460,387 343,955 342,082
Total (excl. motor vehicle & parts)............ 609,882 8.0 308,982 300,900 389,468 280,777 283,857
Retail ....................................... 661,125 8.0 338,053 323,072 417,373 306,748 305,284
GAFO(3).......................................... (*) (*) (*) 85,568 144,094 85,219 81,938
441 Motor vehicle & parts dealers.................... 132,586 9.2 70,540 62,046 70,919 63,178 58,225
4411,4412 Auto & other motor veh. dealers................. 119,938 9.1 64,068 55,870 64,421 57,265 52,619
44111 New car dealers................................ (*) (*) (*) 46,859 55,379 46,391 43,755
4413 Auto parts, acc. & tire stores.................. (*) (*) (*) 6,176 6,498 5,913 5,606
442 Furniture & home furnishings stores.............. 14,655 12.4 7,464 7,191 9,393 6,638 6,402
4421 Furniture stores................................ (*) (*) (*) 4,026 4,421 3,924 3,630
4422 Home furnishings stores......................... (*) (*) (*) 3,165 4,972 2,714 2,772
443 Electronics & appliance stores.................... 15,561 0.4 8,088 7,473 12,832 7,887 7,618
44311,13 Appl., T.V. & camera........................... (*) (*) (*) 5,776 9,935 6,191 5,920
44312 Computer & software stores...................... (*) (*) (*) 1,697 2,897 1,696 1,698
444 Building material & garden eq. & supplies dealers 40,714 15.5 20,819 19,895 23,429 17,618 17,625
4441 Building mat. & supplies dealers................ (*) (*) (*) 16,772 18,957 14,723 14,828
445 Food & beverage stores........................... 99,663 5.1 49,502 50,161 56,624 46,008 48,825
4451 Grocery stores.................................. 90,276 5.0 44,613 45,663 49,078 41,477 44,538
4453 Beer, wine & liquor stores...................... (*) (*) (*) 3,073 5,070 3,104 2,973
446 Health & personal care stores.................... 45,725 4.1 22,736 22,989 25,645 21,483 22,426
44611 Pharmacies & drug stores........................ (*) (*) (*) 19,136 21,046 17,966 19,026
447 Gasoline stations................................ 83,391 11.2 42,047 41,344 42,458 36,767 38,216
448 Clothing & clothing accessories stores........... 31,959 8.5 17,639 14,320 30,839 15,799 13,669
44811 Men's clothing stores........................... (*) (*) (*) 560 1,163 536 524
44812 Women's clothing stores......................... (*) (*) (*) 2,466 4,719 2,601 2,266
44814 Family clothing stores.......................... (*) (*) (*) 5,268 12,020 5,949 5,227
4482 Shoe stores..................................... (*) (*) (*) 1,720 3,218 2,078 1,687
451 Sporting goods, hobby, book & music stores....... 13,446 6.4 6,297 7,149 12,056 5,862 6,770
452 General merchandise stores....................... 95,860 5.2 49,335 46,525 74,867 46,293 44,805
4521 Department stores (ex. L.D.).................... 25,087 1.1 13,422 11,665 26,413 12,806 12,008
4521 Department stores (incl. L.D.)(4)............... (*) (*) (*) 11,887 26,878 13,044 12,148
4529 Other general merchandise stores................ (*) (*) (*) 34,860 48,454 33,487 32,797
45291 Warehouse clubs & supercenters................. (*) (*) (*) 30,695 41,806 29,436 29,143
45299 All other gen. merchandise stores.............. (*) (*) (*) 4,165 6,648 4,051 3,654
453 Miscellaneous store retailers.................... 18,891 11.0 9,781 9,110 11,641 8,833 8,190
454 Nonstore retailers............................... 68,674 9.2 33,805 34,869 46,670 30,382 32,513
4541 Electronic shopping & mail-order houses......... (*) (*) (*) 25,486 37,550 21,645 23,156
722 Food services & drinking places.................. 81,343 9.9 41,469 39,874 43,014 37,207 36,798
(*) Advance estimates are not available for this kind of business.
(NA) Not available (a) Advance estimate (p) Preliminary estimate (r) Revised estimate
(1) For a full description of the NAICS codes used in this table, see http://www.census.gov/eos/www/naics
(2) Advance estimates are based on early reports obtained from a small sample of firms selected from the larger Monthly Retail Trade Survey (MRTS) sample.
All other estimates are from the MRTS sample.
(3) GAFO represents firms which specialize in department store types of merchandise and is comprised of furniture & home furnishings (442), electronics & appliances (443),
clothing & clothing accessories (448), sporting goods, hobby, book, and music (451), general merchandise (452), office supply, stationery, and gift stores (4532).
(4) Estimates include data for leased departments operated within department stores. Data for this line are not included in broader kind-of-business totals.
TABLE 2A. ESTIMATED CHANGE IN SALES FOR RETAIL AND FOOD SERVICES, BY KIND OF BUSINESS--February 2012
Estimates adjusted for seasonal variations and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes
(Estimates are shown as percents and are based on data from the Advance Monthly Retail Trade Survey,
Monthly Retail Trade Survey, and administrative records.)(*)
Feb Jan
2012 2012
adv. prel.
from-- from--
NAICS Kind of Business Jan Feb Dec Jan
Code 2012 2011 2011 2011
(p) (r) (r) (r)
Retail & food Services, total.................... +1.1 +6.5 +0.6 +6.3
Total (excl. motor vehicle & parts ).......... +0.9 +6.4 +1.1 +6.4
Retail .................................. +1.1 +6.3 +0.5 +5.9
441 Motor vehicle & parts dealers.................... +1.6 +6.9 -1.6 +5.8
4411,4412 Auto & other motor veh. dealers............... +1.9 +7.1 -2.1 +5.6
442 Furniture & home furnishings stores.............. -1.2 +8.3 +2.4 +11.8
443 Electronics & appliance stores................... +1.0 -1.4 -0.2 -1.4
444 Building material & garden eq. & supplies dealers +1.4 +13.8 +1.4 +10.5
445 Food & beverage stores........................... +0.3 +3.7 +1.1 +4.1
4451 Grocery stores.................................. +0.3 +3.6 +1.1 +3.9
446 Health & personal care stores.................... +0.1 +1.9 -0.1 +1.8
447 Gasoline stations................................ +3.3 +10.3 +1.9 +8.3
448 Clothing & clothing accessories stores........... +1.8 +7.3 +0.7 +6.5
451 Sporting goods, hobby, book & music stores........ +1.0 +3.1 +2.2 +6.0
452 General merchandise stores....................... -0.1 +2.9 +0.8 +5.0
4521 Department stores (ex. L.D.).................... +1.5 +0.2 0.0 -0.1
453 Miscellaneous stores retailers................... +0.3 +6.0 +4.3 +9.6
454 Nonstore retailers............................... +1.0 +8.5 -0.1 +5.7
722 Food services & drinking places.................. +0.8 +8.2 +1.4 +9.3
(p) Preliminary estimate (r) Revised estimate
(*) Estimates shown in this table are derived from adjusted estimates provided in Table 1A of this report.
TABLE 2B. ESTIMATED CHANGE IN SALES FOR RETAIL AND FOOD SERVICES, BY KIND OF BUSINESS--February 2012
Data not adjusted for seasonal variations and holiday and trading-day differences and price changes.
(Estimates are shown as percents and are based on data from the Advance Monthly Retail Trade Survey,
Monthly Retail Trade Survey, and administrative records.)(*)
Feb Jan
2012 2012
adv. prel.
from-- from--
NAICS Kind of Business Jan Feb Dec Jan
Code 2012 2011 2011 2011
(p) (r) (r) (r)
Retail & food Services, total.................... +4.6 +10.3 -21.2 +6.1
Total (excl. motor vehicle & parts ).......... +2.7 +10.0 -22.7 +6.0
Retail .................................. +4.6 +10.2 -22.6 +5.8
441 Motor vehicle & parts dealers.................... +13.7 +11.7 -12.5 +6.6
4411,4412 Auto & other motor veh. dealers................ +14.7 +11.9 -13.3 +6.2
442 Furniture & home furnishings stores.............. +3.8 +12.4 -23.4 +12.3
443 Electronics & appliance stores................... +8.2 +2.5 -41.8 -1.9
444 Building material & garden eq. & supplies dealers +4.6 +18.2 -15.1 +12.9
445 Food & beverage stores........................... -1.3 +7.6 -11.4 +2.7
4451 Grocery stores.................................. -2.3 +7.6 -7.0 +2.5
446 Health & personal care stores.................... -1.1 +5.8 -10.4 +2.5
447 Gasoline stations................................ +1.7 +14.4 -2.6 +8.2
448 Clothing & clothing accessories stores........... +23.2 +11.6 -53.6 +4.8
451 Sporting goods, hobby, book & music stores........ -11.9 +7.4 -40.7 +5.6
452 General merchandise stores....................... +6.0 +6.6 -37.9 +3.8
4521 Department stores (ex. L.D.).................... +15.1 +4.8 -55.8 -2.9
453 Miscellaneous stores retailers................... +7.4 +10.7 -21.7 +11.2
454 Nonstore retailers............................... -3.1 +11.3 -25.3 +7.2
722 Food services & drinking places.................. +4.0 +11.5 -7.3 +8.4
(p) Preliminary estimate (r) Revised estimate
(*) Estimates shown in this table are derived from not adjusted estimates provided in Table 1B of this report.
SOURCE: Advance Monthly Sales for Retail Trade and Food Services--February 2012 (Press Release available without charge from Public Information Office, Bureau of the Census Washington, D.C. 20233). Survey methodology and measures of sampling variability are documented in the Advance Press Release. Questions concerning this report should be directed to Mr. Ian Thomas (301) 763-2713.