May Retail Sales
Updated: 17-Jun-25 09:39 ET



Highlights
  • Retail sales declined 0.9% month-over-month in May (Briefing.com consensus -0.6%) following a downwardly revised 0.1% decline (from 0.1%) in April.
  • Excluding autos, retail sales fell 0.3% month-over-month (Briefing.com consensus 0.1%) following a downwardly revised unchanged reading (from 0.1%) in April.
Key Factors
  • Motor vehicle and parts dealer sales declined 3.5% month-over-month following a 0.6% decline in April.
  • Furniture and home furnishing store sales rose 1.2% month-over-month following a 0.7% increase in April.
  • Building material and garden equipment and supplies dealer sales dropped 2.7% month-over-month following a 0.3% increase in April.
  • Food and beverage store sales were down 0.7% month-over-month following an unchanged reading in April.
  • General merchandise store sales rose 0.1% month-over-month following a 0.1% decline in April.
  • Nonstore retailer sales increased 0.9% month-over-month following a 0.4% increase in April.
Big Picture
  • This was not a good report in terms of hard economic data. It reflected a more cautious-minded consumer, who, in general, pulled back spending on goods. Clothing and accessories store sales (+0.8%) were a surprising outlier, but otherwise, there was a retrenchment in spending in many discretionary categories, including electronics and appliance store sales (-0.6%) and food services and drinking places (-0.9%). This report will help support arguments that the Fed should be cutting rates soon.
Category MAY APR MAR FEB JAN
Retail Sales -0.9% -0.1% 1.5% 0.0% -0.9%
Excluding Autos -0.3% 0.0% 0.6% 0.4% -0.3%
Durable goods




Building Materials -2.7% 0.3% 2.0% -0.2% -1.8%
Autos/parts -3.5% -0.6% 5.3% -1.4% -3.3%
Furniture 1.2% 0.7% 0.1% 0.6% -1.4%
Nondurable goods




General Merchandise 0.1% -0.1% 0.0% -0.3% 0.7%
Food -0.7% 0.0% 0.0% 0.2% 0.1%
Gasoline stations -2.0% -0.7% -2.8% -0.7% 1.1%
Clothing 0.8% 0.0% 1.1% -0.1% -0.5%
e*retailing/non-store 0.9% 0.4% 0.5% 1.4% -1.0%
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