US Retail Sales Slightly Rebound in August, After July Slump
By Nicholas Rizzi September 16, 2021 11:38 am
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Retail sales in the United States slightly rebounded in August after a summer slump in July, despite the spread of the delta variant around the country.
August saw $618.7 billion in retail sales, a 0.7 percent increase from July’s revised figure of $614.3 billion, according to U.S. Census Bureau data released Thursday.
The increase comes after a rocky few months for retail. May saw the first decline in sales in two months; then, after a slight increase in June, July faced a revised 1.8 percent decrease from the previous month, according to the Census Bureau.
And August’s sales increased 0.5 percent compared to the same time last year, the data showed.
Nonstore retail, which includes e-commerce, had the biggest increase from July to August with a 5.3 percent jump, according to the data. On the traditional brick-and-mortar end, furniture and home furnishings stores saw the largest improvement during that time at 3.7 percent.
However, motor vehicle and parts dealers, which have dealt with a shortage of computer chips that automakers use for engines and airbags and has disrupted manufacturing, continued to see drops in sales with a 3.6 percent decrease from July and August, the largest decrease during that time. However, those numbers are still a 10.7 percent improvement compared to the same time last year, Census data showed.
Nicholas Rizzi can be reached at nrizzi@commercialobserver.com.
