Advance Retail Sales Gained 0.3% in October, 5.7% Year-Over-Year

Election Uncertainty Slows Advance Retail Sales, Consumer Spending

Washington, D.C. (PPD) — The U.S. Census Bureau reported advance retail sales came in at $553.3 billion in October, a 0.3% (± 0.5%) gain that missed the consensus forecast. That’s 5.7% (± 0.7%) above October 2019 and total sales for the July 2020 through September 2020 period were up 5.1% (± 0.5%) from the same period a year ago.

Forecasts ranged from a low of -0.1% to a high of 1.1%. The consensus forecast was 0.4%.

U.S. retail sales from August 2020 to September 2020 was revised from up 1.9% (±0.5%) to up 1.6% (±0.3%).