Last month retail sales saw a slight month-over-month drop in September, according to the CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor, powered by Affinity Solutions, released today by the National Retail Federation.
However consumers continued to spend more than last year as interest rates and inflation fell and employment rose.
“After seven consecutive months of gains, consumers pulled back a bit in September, which is historically a soft month for retail sales,” Matthew Shay, CEP. said in a statement. said. “Due to geopolitical tensions, uncertainty regarding election outcomes, anticipation of the port strike and lingering inflation in services, shoppers showed caution. However, year-over-year gains showed consumers were still spending on household priorities.”
Total retail sales, excluding automobiles and gasoline, were down 0.32% seasonally adjusted month over month but up 0.55% unadjusted year over year in September, according to the Retail Monitor. That compared with increases of 0.45% month over month and 2.11% year over year in August.
The Retail Monitor calculation of core retail sales (excluding restaurants in addition to automobiles dealers and gasoline stations) was down 0.28% month over month in September but up 0.94% year over year. That compared with increases of 0.17% month over month and 1.93% year over year in August.
The month-over-month decline was the first since January for both total and core sales and only the second since the Retail Monitor began tracking sales in October 2022. Total sales were up 1.91% year over year for the first nine months of 2024 and core sales were up 2.18%.
