U.S. retail sales recorded their 11th consecutive month of growth in August, with gains remaining modest as consumers continued to respond to promotions and manage household budgets, according to the CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor, powered by Affinity Solutions.
Total retail sales, excluding automobile dealers and gasoline stations, rose 0.22% month over month on a seasonally adjusted basis in August and 3.87% year over year. In July, sales had increased 0.32% month over month and 5.15% year over year.
Core retail sales, which also exclude restaurants, increased 0.17% month over month and 3.47% year over year in August. July recorded gains of 0.3% and 4.72%, respectively.
“Retail sales climbed steadily once again in August,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said. He attributed the continued growth to low unemployment and steady wage gains, while noting that consumers remained budget-conscious and used back-to-school promotions to stretch spending.
The August figures mark the first release under a new Retail Monitor methodology. The system uses anonymised credit and debit card purchase data from Affinity Solutions, weighted to reflect the composition of U.S. consumers and projected to align with U.S. Census Bureau retail sales totals.
The revised methodology also reports year-over-year changes on a seasonally adjusted basis. As a result, August’s total and core retail sales figures are not directly comparable with previously published July figures.
The Retail Monitor will return with enhanced sector-level details and dollar values in its October release.