On a monthly basis, retail sales decreased 1.2% from April to May (seasonally adjusted, after revisions), and sales were up 6.9% from May 2009 (easy comparison).
This graph shows retail sales since 1992. This is monthly retail sales, seasonally adjusted (total and ex-gasoline).
The red line shows retail sales ex-gasoline and shows the increase in final demand ex-gasoline has been sluggish.
Retail sales are up 8% from the bottom, but still off 4.6% from the pre-recession peak.
The second graph shows the year-over-year change in retail sales (ex-gasoline) since 1993.
Retail sales ex-gasoline increased by 5.6% on a YoY basis (6.9% for all retail sales). The year-over-year comparisons are easy now since retail sales collapsed in late 2008. Retail sales bottomed in December 2008.
Here is the Census Bureau report:
The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for May, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, were $362.5 billion, a decrease of 1.2 percent (±0.5%) from the previous month, but 6.9 percent (±0.7%) above May 2009.
This is just one month, but this is a weak report.
