The U.S. Census Bureau released advance estimates of retail and food services sales for April on Friday morning. Seasonally adjusted sales rose by 1.3% to $453.4 billion, compared with March 2016 sales of $447.8 billion, and rose 3% year over year. Total sales for the three-month period of February through April 2016 were up 2.8% from a year ago.
The Census Bureau also revised its previous estimate of a drop of 0.4% between February and March to a new estimate of down 0.1%.
Excluding motor vehicle and parts sales, sales rose 0.8% month over month and rose 3% year over year. Analysts were expecting a month-over-month increase of 0.9% and an increase of 0.5% excluding autos and auto parts. Gasoline stations sales rose 2.2% month over month and are down 9.4% year over year, almost entirely due to lower gasoline prices.
Sales were stronger across a broad range of products. Automobile sales rose 3.2% in April compared with March and are up 3.1% compared with April 2015. Building materials and garden supply sales slipped 1% compared with March but are up 8.2% year over year. Non-store retailers (i.e., online stores) saw sales rise by 2.1% compared with March, and online sales are up 10.2% year over year.
Electronics stores posted a month-over-month gain of 0.5% and a year-over-year decline of 2% in sales. Department stores posted a month-over-month increase of 0.3% and a year-over-year decline of 1.7%.
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