LBM dealers surge ahead of the pack in monthly sales

During a month that saw a 0.1% growth rate in monthly sales across the U.S., building material and garden equipment & supplies dealers (NAICS 444) saw an estimated 0.9% increase over September 2015.

For some context, the highest monthly growth rates occurred in miscellaneous store retailers (1.8%) and nonstore retailers (1.4%). After LBM dealers, the second-highest rate was for food services & drinking places (0.5%).

The industry's advance estimate of $28.6 billion is also 4.3% ahead of October 2014's figure, placing it in the mid range of year-over-year growth rates for other retail categories.

October's number comes as a rebound to September's $27.4 billion, which was down from August's $27.9 billion.

An advance estimate of total U.S. retail and food services sales came in at $447.3 billion in October, up 0.1% from the previous month and 1.7% above last year.

Categories that fell behind in October included gasoline stations (-0.9%, and -20.1% for the year), motor vehicle & parts dealers (-0.5%), electronics & appliance stores (-0.4%), general merchandise stores (-0.4%), and food & beverage stores (-0.3%).