by Calculated Risk on 8/13/2010 08:30:00 AM

On a monthly basis, retail sales increased 0.4% from June to July (seasonally adjusted, after revisions), and sales were up 5.5% from July 2009. Retail sales increased 0.2% ex-autos.

Click on graph for larger image in new window.

This graph shows retail sales since 1992.

This is monthly retail sales, seasonally adjusted (total and ex-gasoline).

Retail sales are up 8.1% from the bottom, but still off 4.5% 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 4.8% on a YoY basis (5.5% for all retail sales). The year-over-year comparisons are easy now since retail sales collapsed in late 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 July, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, were $362.7 billion, an increase of 0.4 percent (±0.5%)* from the previous month, and 5.5 percent (±0.5%) above July 2009. Total sales for the May through July 2010 period were up 5.9 percent (±0.3%) from the same period a year ago. The May to June 2010 percent change was revised from -0.5 percent (±0.5%)* to -0.3 percent (±0.2%).

This was close to expectations.