Retail Sales Rose 0.6% in February

Washington, DC, March 14, 2024-Advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for February 2024 were $700.7 billion, up 0.6% from the previous month and up 1.5% above February 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Total sales for the December 2023 through February 2024 period were up 2.1% from the same period a year ago. The December 2023 to January 2024 percent change was revised from down 0.8% to down 1.1%.

Retail trade sales were up 0.6% from January 2024 and up 0.8% above last year. Nonstore retailers were up 6.4% from last year, while food services and drinking places were up 6.3% from February 2023.

Says Furniture Today, “In February, total retail sales, excluding automobiles and gasoline, increased by 1.06% compared with the previous month and by 6.3% compared with the same month last year, according to the Retail Monitor. This marks an improvement from January, which saw a slight decrease of 0.16% month-over- month and an increase of 2.34% year-over-year.

“Core retail sales, which exclude restaurants as well as autos and gas, saw a 0.95% increase month over month and a 6.69% increase year over year in February. This also shows improvement from January, where there was a small decrease of 0.04% since December and an increase of 3.24% since January 2023. Furniture and home furnishings stores were up 0.45% month-over-month, but down 1.56% year-over-year.”