NAICS 444 sales slide in November

Estimated monthly sales for building material and lawn and garden supplies dealers (NAICS 444) are down 5.5% on an unadjusted basis to $39.95 billion for November compared to the October figure of $42.17 billion.

Released this morning by the U.S. Census Bureau, estimated NAICS 444 sales are also down 2.4% compared to the November 2022 figure of $40.93 billion.

Monthly retail sales for hardware stores in October (NAICS 44413) increased nearly 5% to $3.4 billion from $3.34 billion in September. On a year-over-year basis, sales are up nearly 4% from sales of $3.27 in October 2022.

Overall advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for November 2023, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, were $705.7 billion, up 0.3% from the previous month, and up 4.1% above November 2022

“Today’s report highlights consumers’ strength and continuing capacity to spend,” said National Retail Federation Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz. “Jobs and wage gains together with falling energy prices have supported holiday shopping as we predicted. Lower inflation for goods has helped savvy consumers make smart decisions about holiday purchases. The year-over-year comparison shows spending is on track to meet our projection for a sound holiday shopping season.”

Retail trade sales were up 0.1% from October 2023, and up 3.1% percent above last year. 

Food services and drinking places were up 11.3% from November 2022.

Core retail sales as defined by NRF – excluding automobile dealers, gasoline stations, and restaurants – were up 3.3% unadjusted year over year on a three-month moving average as of November and up 3.7% for the first 11 months of the year.