The U.S. Census Bureau reported Friday that advance estimates of retail trade sales for November were 338.8 billion, seasonally adjusted, an increase of 0.92% from the previous month and 8.1% above year ago levels.
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Source: U.S. Census Bureau / The Mays Report
Furniture and home furnishings sales have declined in the last two months and have generally weakened since July. With the state of the housing market I would expect retailers in this category, such as Tuesday Morning (TUE) to remain weak for the foreseeable future.
Electronics and appliance store sales declined in the last two consecutive months and in three of the most recent four months. This would explain Best Buys (BBY) recent disappointing sales. Department store sales surged in November, largely due to the holiday shopping season. However, year to date, department store sales are down 0.9%. Those department and electronic specialty store sales continue to shift to the internet as non-store retail sales were up 2.1% in November and 14.2% year over year.
We have not seen retail trade sales at this level since June 2008, a few months before the beginning of the peak of the financial crises. In June 2008 the unemployment rate was 5.5%, today it is 9.8%.
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Source: U.S. Census / The Mays Report
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