Hurricanes boost September retail sales

Retail sales in September increased 0.5% over August on a seasonally adjusted basis and were up 3.2% year-over-year unadjusted, according to calculations released today by the National Retail Federation. The numbers exclude automobiles, gas stations and restaurants.

“Retail appears to have navigated through some rough weather — literally,” NRF chief economist Jack Kleinhenz said in a release issued by the NRF.

“Hurricane impacts were very clear, with a strong boost for building materials going a long way to offset downturns elsewhere,” Kleinhenz said. “Results were mixed among several business lines, but the bottom line was a good increase over August and strong growth from a year ago. While the hurricanes played a major role in the data, they did not fundamentally affect the upward path of the economy.”

September sales were up 3.6% on a three-month moving average compared with the same period a year ago, according to the NRF.

Building materials and supplies stores showed the strongest increase, up 2.1% over August (seasonally adjusted) and up 7.7% (unadjusted) year-over-year. Online and other non-store sales were up 0.5% seasonally adjusted from August and up 5.8% unadjusted year-over-year.

General merchandise stores were up 0.3% seasonally adjusted over August and up 4.7% unadjusted year-over-year. Electronics and appliance stores led declines, however, down 1.1% seasonally adjusted from August and down 5.3% unadjusted year-over-year.