Strong data for building material sales
According to the U.S. Census advance monthly sales estimate for November, retail trade sales were up 0.8% from October, and were up 6.3% from the same month last year.
But the best news came from the hardware and building supply sector. Retailers classified as building material & garden equipment & supplies dealers – or NAICS 444 – showed a 10.7% increase in November, compared to November 2016. The industry even outpaced nonstore retailers, which showed an annual gain of 10.4%.
So far this year, NAICS 444 sales are at $349.8 billion, up 8.2% over the same year-to-date figure in 2016. For the month, the unadjusted NAICS 444 sales were estimated at $32.4 billion.
[Read the full report here.]
Overall, advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for November 2017, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, were $492.7 billion, an increase of 0.8% from the previous month, and 5.8% above November 2016.