February Retail Sales Slip 0.1%

The U.S. Census Bureau released advance estimates of retail and food services sales for February on Tuesday morning. Seasonally adjusted sales slipped 0.1% to $447.3 billion, compared with January 2016 sales of $448.0 billion, and rose 3.1% compared with February 2015. Total sales for the three-month period of December 2015 through February 2016 period were down 0.4% from a year ago.

The Census Bureau also revised January 2016 sales totals downward, to down 0.4% from the prior estimate for a gain of 0.2%.

Excluding motor vehicle and parts sales, month over month sales fell 0.1% and rose 2.1% year over year. Analysts were expecting a month-over-month decline of 0.1% and a decline of 0.2% excluding autos and auto parts. Gasoline stations sales fell 4.4% month over month and are down 15.6% year over year, almost entirely due to lower gasoline prices.
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Sales were stronger across a broad range of products. Automobile sales slipped 0.2% in February compared with January but are up 7.1% compared with February 2015. Building materials and garden supply sales rose 1.6% compared with January and are up 12.2% year over year. Non-store retailers (i.e., online stores) saw sales drop by 0.2% compared with January, but they are up 6.3% year over year.

The monthly dips in sales were widespread, with furniture and home furnishings stores down 0.5%, department stores down 0.4% and grocery stores down 0.3%. Sporting goods stores posted an annual gain of 6.7%.

Electronics stores posted a month-over-month drop of 0.1% and a year-over-year decline of 3.2% in sales.