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ADVANCE MONTHLY SALES FOR RETAIL AND FOOD SERVICES SUMMARY - May 2012
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The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for May, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, were $404.6 billion, a decrease of 0.2 percent (±0.5%)* from the previous month, but 5.3 percent (±0.7%) above May 2011. Total sales for the March through May 2012 period were up 5.7 percent (±0.5%) from the same period a year ago. The March to April 2012 percent change was revised from 0.1 percent (±0.5)* to -0.2 percent (±0.2%)*.
Retail trade sales were down 0.2 percent (±0.5%)* from April 2012, but 5.0 percent (±0.7%) above last year. Nonstore retailers sales were up 12.4 percent (±3.1%) from May 2011 and motor vehicles and parts dealers were up 10.0 percent (±2.1%) 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 June is scheduled to be released July 16, 2012 at 8:30 a.m. EDT.
TABLE 1A. ESTIMATED MONTHLY SALES FOR RETAIL AND FOOD SERVICES, BY KIND OF BUSINESS--May 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 2012 2011 2011
NAICS(1) Kind of Business May(3) Apr Mar May Apr
Code (a) (p) (r) (r) (r)
Retail & food services, total.................... 404,596 405,287 406,200 384,249 383,810
Total (excl. motor vehicle & parts)............ 330,965 332,206 333,165 317,335 315,943
Retail ....................................... 360,719 361,336 362,448 343,381 343,431
GAFO(4).......................................... (*) 99,271 99,998 96,638 97,131
441 Motor vehicle & parts dealers.................... 73,631 73,081 73,035 66,914 67,867
4411,4412 Auto & other motor veh. dealers................. 66,787 66,111 66,072 60,156 61,175
442 Furniture & home furnishings stores.............. 7,931 7,900 7,858 7,294 7,342
443 Electronics & appliance stores.................... 8,267 8,198 8,312 8,276 8,404
44311,13 Appl., T.V. & camera........................... (*) 6,134 6,186 6,277 6,466
44312 Computer & software stores...................... (*) 2,064 2,126 1,999 1,938
444 Building material & garden eq. & supplies dealers 24,324 24,747 25,339 23,092 22,749
4441 Building mat. & supplies dealers................ (*) 20,733 21,265 19,500 19,324
445 Food & beverage stores........................... 52,522 52,606 52,449 50,984 51,088
4451 Grocery stores.................................. 47,028 47,134 46,994 45,807 45,934
4453 Beer, wine & liquor stores...................... (*) 3,740 3,720 3,570 3,542
446 Health & personal care stores.................... 23,083 23,097 22,970 22,692 22,295
44611 Pharmacies & drug stores........................ (*) 19,197 19,102 19,165 18,865
447 Gasoline stations................................ 44,873 45,871 46,517 44,625 44,035
448 Clothing & clothing accessories stores........... 19,754 19,586 19,820 18,739 18,811
44811 Men's clothing stores........................... (*) (S) (S) (S) (S)
44812 Women's clothing stores......................... (*) 3,429 3,497 3,183 3,149
4482 Shoe stores..................................... (*) 2,385 2,408 2,259 2,222
451 Sporting goods, hobby, book & music stores....... 7,511 7,518 7,461 6,999 7,003
452 General merchandise stores....................... 52,657 52,918 53,388 52,270 52,535
4521 Department stores (ex. L.D.).................... 15,280 15,255 15,518 15,413 15,681
4521 Department stores (incl. L.D.)(5)............... (*) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)
4529 Other general merchandise stores................ (*) 37,663 37,870 36,857 36,854
45291 Warehouse clubs & supercenters................. (*) 32,815 32,925 32,493 32,397
45299 All other gen. merchandise stores.............. (*) 4,848 4,945 4,364 4,457
453 Miscellaneous store retailers.................... 10,034 10,129 10,050 9,348 9,319
454 Nonstore retailers............................... 36,132 35,685 35,249 32,148 31,983
4541 Electronic shopping & mail-order houses......... (*) 27,632 27,346 24,577 24,294
722 Food services & drinking places.................. 43,877 43,951 43,752 40,868 40,379
(*) 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/mrts/www/mrts.html
(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--May 2012
Estimates not adjusted for seasonal variations and holiday and trading-day differences and price changes.
(In Millions of dollars and Annual Percent Change)
5 month total
% Chg. 2012 2012 2012 2011 2011
NAICS(1) Kind of Business 2012 from May(2) Apr Mar May Apr
Code 2011 (a) (p) (r)
Retail & food services, total.................... 1,979,360 7.0 424,023 398,671 419,599 396,066 384,506
Total (excl. motor vehicle & parts)............ 1,609,333 6.6 343,852 324,598 337,676 325,448 313,654
Retail ....................................... 1,762,012 6.8 378,084 354,456 373,528 353,318 342,996
GAFO(3).......................................... (*) (*) (*) 92,453 99,246 94,310 92,521
441 Motor vehicle & parts dealers.................... 370,027 8.7 80,171 74,073 81,923 70,618 70,852
4411,4412 Auto & other motor veh. dealers................. 335,859 9.0 72,998 67,235 74,661 63,765 64,173
44111 New car dealers................................ (*) (*) (*) 55,158 61,366 52,056 52,534
4413 Auto parts, acc. & tire stores.................. (*) (*) (*) 6,838 7,262 6,853 6,679
442 Furniture & home furnishings stores.............. 37,856 9.4 7,963 7,292 8,094 7,148 6,960
4421 Furniture stores................................ (*) (*) (*) 3,925 4,566 3,872 3,912
4422 Home furnishings stores......................... (*) (*) (*) 3,367 3,528 3,276 3,048
443 Electronics & appliance stores.................... 38,166 0.5 7,608 6,907 8,167 7,516 7,214
44311,13 Appl., T.V. & camera........................... (*) (*) (*) 5,091 5,939 5,725 5,509
44312 Computer & software stores...................... (*) (*) (*) 1,816 2,228 1,791 1,705
444 Building material & garden eq. & supplies dealers 121,627 11.1 31,047 27,318 25,254 28,694 25,222
4441 Building mat. & supplies dealers................ (*) (*) (*) 21,687 20,989 22,932 20,464
445 Food & beverage stores........................... 257,963 4.2 54,352 51,249 52,981 51,905 50,985
4451 Grocery stores.................................. 232,683 4.0 48,721 46,050 47,746 46,677 45,888
4453 Beer, wine & liquor stores...................... (*) (*) (*) 3,448 3,597 3,545 3,429
446 Health & personal care stores.................... 115,482 2.9 23,499 22,704 23,889 22,783 22,250
44611 Pharmacies & drug stores........................ (*) (*) (*) 18,871 19,732 19,357 18,808
447 Gasoline stations................................ 224,942 6.8 48,239 46,834 47,587 47,615 45,268
448 Clothing & clothing accessories stores........... 90,751 7.2 19,981 18,602 20,054 18,618 18,498
44811 Men's clothing stores........................... (*) (*) (*) 756 665 736 749
44812 Women's clothing stores......................... (*) (*) (*) 3,621 3,801 3,371 3,448
44814 Family clothing stores.......................... (*) (*) (*) 7,149 7,911 7,011 7,117
4482 Shoe stores..................................... (*) (*) (*) 2,330 2,526 2,180 2,280
451 Sporting goods, hobby, book & music stores....... 33,581 7.0 6,925 6,586 7,170 6,348 6,401
452 General merchandise stores....................... 250,877 3.2 52,244 50,331 52,809 51,708 50,733
4521 Department stores (ex. L.D.).................... 68,602 0.4 14,576 13,975 14,850 14,577 14,598
4521 Department stores (incl. L.D.)(4)............... (*) (*) (*) 14,203 15,087 14,821 14,839
4529 Other general merchandise stores................ (*) (*) (*) 36,356 37,959 37,131 36,135
45291 Warehouse clubs & supercenters................. (*) (*) (*) 31,634 32,925 32,688 31,749
45299 All other gen. merchandise stores.............. (*) (*) (*) 4,722 5,034 4,443 4,386
453 Miscellaneous store retailers.................... 47,967 9.3 10,804 9,472 9,758 9,903 8,944
454 Nonstore retailers............................... 172,773 11.9 35,251 33,088 35,842 30,462 29,669
4541 Electronic shopping & mail-order houses......... (*) (*) (*) 25,504 27,045 23,766 22,545
722 Food services & drinking places.................. 217,348 8.7 45,939 44,215 46,071 42,748 41,510
(*) 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--May 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.)(*)
May Apr
2012 2012
adv. prel.
from-- from--
NAICS Kind of Business Apr May Mar Apr
Code 2012 2011 2012 2011
(p) (r) (r) (r)
Retail & food Services, total.................... -0.2 +5.3 -0.2 +5.6
Total (excl. motor vehicle & parts ).......... -0.4 +4.3 -0.3 +5.1
Retail .................................. -0.2 +5.0 -0.3 +5.2
441 Motor vehicle & parts dealers.................... +0.8 +10.0 +0.1 +7.7
4411,4412 Auto & other motor veh. dealers............... +1.0 +11.0 +0.1 +8.1
442 Furniture & home furnishings stores.............. +0.4 +8.7 +0.5 +7.6
443 Electronics & appliance stores................... +0.8 -0.1 -1.4 -2.5
444 Building material & garden eq. & supplies dealers -1.7 +5.3 -2.3 +8.8
445 Food & beverage stores........................... -0.2 +3.0 +0.3 +3.0
4451 Grocery stores.................................. -0.2 +2.7 +0.3 +2.6
446 Health & personal care stores.................... -0.1 +1.7 +0.6 +3.6
447 Gasoline stations................................ -2.2 +0.6 -1.4 +4.2
448 Clothing & clothing accessories stores........... +0.9 +5.4 -1.2 +4.1
451 Sporting goods, hobby, book & music stores........ -0.1 +7.3 +0.8 +7.4
452 General merchandise stores....................... -0.5 +0.7 -0.9 +0.7
4521 Department stores (ex. L.D.).................... +0.2 -0.9 -1.7 -2.7
453 Miscellaneous stores retailers................... -0.9 +7.3 +0.8 +8.7
454 Nonstore retailers............................... +1.3 +12.4 +1.2 +11.6
722 Food services & drinking places.................. -0.2 +7.4 +0.5 +8.8
(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--May 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.)(*)
May Apr
2012 2012
adv. prel.
from-- from--
NAICS Kind of Business Apr May Mar Apr
Code 2012 2011 2012 2011
(p) (r) (r) (r)
Retail & food Services, total.................... +6.4 +7.1 -5.0 +3.7
Total (excl. motor vehicle & parts ).......... +5.9 +5.7 -3.9 +3.5
Retail .................................. +6.7 +7.0 -5.1 +3.3
441 Motor vehicle & parts dealers.................... +8.2 +13.5 -9.6 +4.5
4411,4412 Auto & other motor veh. dealers................ +8.6 +14.5 -9.9 +4.8
442 Furniture & home furnishings stores.............. +9.2 +11.4 -9.9 +4.8
443 Electronics & appliance stores................... +10.1 +1.2 -15.4 -4.3
444 Building material & garden eq. & supplies dealers +13.7 +8.2 +8.2 +8.3
445 Food & beverage stores........................... +6.1 +4.7 -3.3 +0.5
4451 Grocery stores.................................. +5.8 +4.4 -3.6 +0.4
446 Health & personal care stores.................... +3.5 +3.1 -5.0 +2.0
447 Gasoline stations................................ +3.0 +1.3 -1.6 +3.5
448 Clothing & clothing accessories stores........... +7.4 +7.3 -7.2 +0.6
451 Sporting goods, hobby, book & music stores........ +5.1 +9.1 -8.1 +2.9
452 General merchandise stores....................... +3.8 +1.0 -4.7 -0.8
4521 Department stores (ex. L.D.).................... +4.3 0.0 -5.9 -4.3
453 Miscellaneous stores retailers................... +14.1 +9.1 -2.9 +5.9
454 Nonstore retailers............................... +6.5 +15.7 -7.7 +11.5
722 Food services & drinking places.................. +3.9 +7.5 -4.0 +6.5
(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--May 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.