Latest reading: Retail sales were up 3.3% in annual terms in August, following a 5.0% increase in the previous month....
Retail Sales in United States
The American economy recorded an average growth rate of 5.1% in retail sales over the decade to 2024, below Major Economies's average of 4.1%. In 2024, the United States's retail sales growth was 2.6%.
United States Retail Chart
Note: This chart displays Retail Sales (ann. var. %) for United States from 2014 to 2024.
Source: Macrobond.
United States Retail Data
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Sales (ann. var. %) | 0.7 | 18.1 | 9.1 | 3.5 | 2.6 |
Retail sales growth beats market expectations in August
Latest reading: Nominal retail sales rose 0.6% in seasonally adjusted month-on-month terms in August, stable from the previous month's reading but triple market expectations. Relative to the prior month's figures, the reading for non-store retailers improved in August (+2.0% month on month vs +0.6% in July). In contrast, readings softened for motor vehicle and parts dealers (+0.5% vs +1.7% in July), food and beverages (+0.3% vs +0.5% in July), general merchandise stores (-0.1% vs 0.0% in July) and gasoline stations (+0.5% vs +0.9% in July). In annual terms, retail sales rose 5.0% in August, following a 4.1% rise in the previous month.
Consensus Forecasts and Projections for the next ten years
How should you choose a forecaster if some are too optimistic while others are too pessimistic? FocusEconomics collects American retail projections for the next ten years from a panel of 4 analysts at the leading national, regional and global forecast institutions. These projections are then validated by our in-house team of economists and data analysts and averaged to provide one Consensus Forecast you can rely on for each indicator. By averaging all forecasts, upside and downside forecasting errors tend to cancel each other out, leading to the most reliable retail forecast available for American retail.
Download one of our sample reports to visualize what a Consensus Forecast is and see our American retail projections.
Want to get access to the full dataset of American retail forecasts? Send an email to info@focus-economics.com.
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