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ADVANCE MONTHLY SALES FOR RETAIL AND FOOD SERVICES SUMMARY - August 2012
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The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for August, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, were $406.7 billion, an increase of 0.9 percent (±0.5%) from the previous month and 4.7 percent (±0.7%) above August 2011. Total sales for the June through August 2012 period were up 4.0 percent (±0.5%) from the same period a year ago. The June to July 2012 percent change was revised from 0.8 percent (±0.5%) to 0.6 percent (±0.2%).
Retail trade sales were up 0.9 percent (±0.5%) from July 2012 and 4.4 percent (±0.7%) above last year. Auto and other motor vehicle dealers were up 12.3 percent (±2.5%) from August 2011 and nonstore retailers sales were up 10.6 percent (±3.1%) 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 September is scheduled to be released October 15, 2012 at 8:30 a.m. EDT.
TABLE 1A. ESTIMATED MONTHLY SALES FOR RETAIL AND FOOD SERVICES, BY KIND OF BUSINESS--August 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 Aug(3) Jul Jun Aug Jul
Code (a) (p) (r) (r) (r)
Retail & food services, total.................... 406,748 403,176 400,635 388,595 388,064
Total (excl. motor vehicle & parts)............ 332,534 329,930 327,453 321,526 319,714
Retail ....................................... 362,696 359,352 356,962 347,312 346,949
GAFO(4).......................................... (*) 99,525 99,040 97,618 97,169
441 Motor vehicle & parts dealers.................... 74,214 73,246 73,182 67,069 68,350
4411,4412 Auto & other motor veh. dealers................. 67,453 66,295 66,342 60,055 61,485
442 Furniture & home furnishings stores.............. 8,038 8,013 7,944 7,416 7,338
443 Electronics & appliance stores.................... 8,109 8,223 8,141 8,299 8,277
44311,13 Appl., T.V. & camera........................... (*) 6,231 6,124 6,378 6,340
44312 Computer & software stores...................... (*) 1,992 2,017 1,921 1,937
444 Building material & garden eq. & supplies dealers 24,013 23,779 23,504 23,680 23,537
4441 Building mat. & supplies dealers................ (*) 20,193 20,175 19,980 20,010
445 Food & beverage stores........................... 52,808 52,833 52,621 51,598 51,415
4451 Grocery stores.................................. 47,365 47,356 47,155 46,377 46,184
4453 Beer, wine & liquor stores...................... (*) 3,714 3,734 3,611 3,619
446 Health & personal care stores.................... 23,031 22,995 22,618 22,872 22,727
44611 Pharmacies & drug stores........................ (*) 19,049 18,767 19,291 19,153
447 Gasoline stations................................ 45,750 43,363 43,186 44,655 44,511
448 Clothing & clothing accessories stores........... 19,949 19,970 19,826 18,862 18,928
44811 Men's clothing stores........................... (*) (S) (S) (S) (S)
44812 Women's clothing stores......................... (*) 3,485 3,428 3,125 3,243
4482 Shoe stores..................................... (*) 2,429 2,367 2,274 2,279
451 Sporting goods, hobby, book & music stores....... 7,537 7,536 7,464 7,127 6,904
452 General merchandise stores....................... 52,424 52,606 52,536 52,868 52,691
4521 Department stores (ex. L.D.).................... 15,316 15,308 15,180 15,295 15,404
4521 Department stores (incl. L.D.)(5)............... (*) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)
4529 Other general merchandise stores................ (*) 37,298 37,356 37,573 37,287
45291 Warehouse clubs & supercenters................. (*) 32,341 32,464 33,074 32,825
45299 All other gen. merchandise stores.............. (*) 4,957 4,892 4,499 4,462
453 Miscellaneous store retailers.................... 10,166 10,148 9,988 9,733 9,582
454 Nonstore retailers............................... 36,657 36,640 35,952 33,133 32,689
4541 Electronic shopping & mail-order houses......... (*) 28,569 28,106 25,397 25,143
722 Food services & drinking places.................. 44,052 43,824 43,673 41,283 41,115
(*) 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/epcd/www/naics.html
(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--August 2012
Estimates not adjusted for seasonal variations and holiday and trading-day differences and price changes.
(In Millions of dollars and Annual Percent Change)
8 month total
% Chg. 2012 2012 2012 2011 2011
NAICS(1) Kind of Business 2012 from Aug(2) Jul Jun Aug Jul
Code 2011 (a) (p) (r)
Retail & food services, total.................... 3,207,701 5.8 421,436 400,945 406,128 398,950 388,749
Total (excl. motor vehicle & parts)............ 2,605,540 5.2 341,109 325,429 329,843 326,393 318,246
Retail ....................................... 2,854,265 5.6 375,754 355,982 360,752 356,718 345,661
GAFO(3).......................................... (*) (*) (*) 93,670 95,620 98,373 93,214
441 Motor vehicle & parts dealers.................... 602,161 8.5 80,327 75,516 76,285 72,557 70,503
4411,4412 Auto & other motor veh. dealers................. 546,135 9.1 72,917 68,350 69,062 64,919 63,514
44111 New car dealers................................ (*) (*) (*) 56,984 56,737 53,711 51,993
4413 Auto parts, acc. & tire stores.................. (*) (*) (*) 7,166 7,223 7,638 6,989
442 Furniture & home furnishings stores.............. 62,002 9.2 8,496 7,925 7,745 7,772 7,316
4421 Furniture stores................................ (*) (*) (*) 4,276 4,201 4,157 4,020
4422 Home furnishings stores......................... (*) (*) (*) 3,649 3,544 3,615 3,296
443 Electronics & appliance stores.................... 61,787 -0.2 8,116 7,828 7,647 8,293 7,882
44311,13 Appl., T.V. & camera........................... (*) (*) (*) 5,969 5,787 6,384 6,067
44312 Computer & software stores...................... (*) (*) (*) 1,859 1,860 1,909 1,815
444 Building material & garden eq. & supplies dealers 198,252 6.4 24,913 24,982 26,990 24,540 24,256
4441 Building mat. & supplies dealers................ (*) (*) (*) 21,708 22,636 21,499 21,071
445 Food & beverage stores........................... 418,867 3.7 54,243 53,385 53,181 52,054 53,005
4451 Grocery stores.................................. 376,898 3.4 48,691 47,877 47,579 46,841 47,570
4453 Beer, wine & liquor stores...................... (*) (*) (*) 3,777 3,861 3,658 3,825
446 Health & personal care stores.................... 183,076 2.0 23,238 22,259 22,143 23,032 21,909
44611 Pharmacies & drug stores........................ (*) (*) (*) 18,420 18,279 19,349 18,406
447 Gasoline stations................................ 365,948 3.8 49,227 45,835 45,734 47,602 47,493
448 Clothing & clothing accessories stores........... 148,097 6.4 20,537 18,274 18,684 19,056 17,776
44811 Men's clothing stores........................... (*) (*) (*) 643 742 596 639
44812 Women's clothing stores......................... (*) (*) (*) 3,095 3,366 2,909 2,938
44814 Family clothing stores.......................... (*) (*) (*) 7,488 7,272 7,685 7,249
4482 Shoe stores..................................... (*) (*) (*) 2,271 2,166 2,824 2,195
451 Sporting goods, hobby, book & music stores....... 56,510 7.2 8,781 6,858 7,248 8,239 6,441
452 General merchandise stores....................... 404,191 1.9 52,000 49,830 51,398 51,642 50,990
4521 Department stores (ex. L.D.).................... 111,742 -0.2 15,215 13,576 14,351 14,811 14,015
4521 Department stores (incl. L.D.)(4)............... (*) (*) (*) 13,796 14,581 15,051 14,252
4529 Other general merchandise stores................ (*) (*) (*) 36,254 37,047 36,831 36,975
45291 Warehouse clubs & supercenters................. (*) (*) (*) 31,565 32,204 32,611 32,727
45299 All other gen. merchandise stores.............. (*) (*) (*) 4,689 4,843 4,220 4,248
453 Miscellaneous store retailers.................... 79,203 7.9 10,608 10,191 10,502 10,087 9,559
454 Nonstore retailers............................... 274,171 11.8 35,268 33,099 33,195 31,844 28,531
4541 Electronic shopping & mail-order houses......... (*) (*) (*) 26,226 26,223 24,965 22,352
722 Food services & drinking places.................. 353,436 8.0 45,682 44,963 45,376 42,232 43,088
(*) 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/epcd/www/naics.html
(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--August 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.)(*)
Aug Jul
2012 2012
adv. prel.
from-- from--
NAICS Kind of Business Jul Aug Jun Jul
Code 2012 2011 2012 2011
(p) (r) (r) (r)
Retail & food Services, total.................... +0.9 +4.7 +0.6 +3.9
Total (excl. motor vehicle & parts ).......... +0.8 +3.4 +0.8 +3.2
Retail .................................. +0.9 +4.4 +0.7 +3.6
441 Motor vehicle & parts dealers.................... +1.3 +10.7 +0.1 +7.2
4411,4412 Auto & other motor veh. dealers............... +1.7 +12.3 -0.1 +7.8
442 Furniture & home furnishings stores.............. +0.3 +8.4 +0.9 +9.2
443 Electronics & appliance stores................... -1.4 -2.3 +1.0 -0.7
444 Building material & garden eq. & supplies dealers +1.0 +1.4 +1.2 +1.0
445 Food & beverage stores........................... 0.0 +2.3 +0.4 +2.8
4451 Grocery stores.................................. 0.0 +2.1 +0.4 +2.5
446 Health & personal care stores.................... +0.2 +0.7 +1.7 +1.2
447 Gasoline stations................................ +5.5 +2.5 +0.4 -2.6
448 Clothing & clothing accessories stores........... -0.1 +5.8 +0.7 +5.5
451 Sporting goods, hobby, book & music stores........ 0.0 +5.8 +1.0 +9.2
452 General merchandise stores....................... -0.3 -0.8 +0.1 -0.2
4521 Department stores (ex. L.D.).................... +0.1 +0.1 +0.8 -0.6
453 Miscellaneous stores retailers................... +0.2 +4.4 +1.6 +5.9
454 Nonstore retailers............................... 0.0 +10.6 +1.9 +12.1
722 Food services & drinking places.................. +0.5 +6.7 +0.3 +6.6
(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--August 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.)(*)
Aug Jul
2012 2012
adv. prel.
from-- from--
NAICS Kind of Business Jul Aug Jun Jul
Code 2012 2011 2012 2011
(p) (r) (r) (r)
Retail & food Services, total.................... +5.1 +5.6 -1.3 +3.1
Total (excl. motor vehicle & parts ).......... +4.8 +4.5 -1.3 +2.3
Retail .................................. +5.6 +5.3 -1.3 +3.0
441 Motor vehicle & parts dealers.................... +6.4 +10.7 -1.0 +7.1
4411,4412 Auto & other motor veh. dealers................ +6.7 +12.3 -1.0 +7.6
442 Furniture & home furnishings stores.............. +7.2 +9.3 +2.3 +8.3
443 Electronics & appliance stores................... +3.7 -2.1 +2.4 -0.7
444 Building material & garden eq. & supplies dealers -0.3 +1.5 -7.4 +3.0
445 Food & beverage stores........................... +1.6 +4.2 +0.4 +0.7
4451 Grocery stores.................................. +1.7 +3.9 +0.6 +0.6
446 Health & personal care stores.................... +4.4 +0.9 +0.5 +1.6
447 Gasoline stations................................ +7.4 +3.4 +0.2 -3.5
448 Clothing & clothing accessories stores........... +12.4 +7.8 -2.2 +2.8
451 Sporting goods, hobby, book & music stores........ +28.0 +6.6 -5.4 +6.5
452 General merchandise stores....................... +4.4 +0.7 -3.1 -2.3
4521 Department stores (ex. L.D.).................... +12.1 +2.7 -5.4 -3.1
453 Miscellaneous stores retailers................... +4.1 +5.2 -3.0 +6.6
454 Nonstore retailers............................... +6.6 +10.8 -0.3 +16.0
722 Food services & drinking places.................. +1.6 +8.2 -0.9 +4.4
(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--August 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.