TUESDAY, JUNE 13, 2006, AT 8:30 A.M. EDT
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 $364.2 billion, an increase of 0.1 percent (±0.7%)* from the previous month and up 7.6 percent (±0.8%) from May 2005. Total sales for the March through May 2006 period were up 7.6 percent (±0.3%) from the same period a year ago. The March to April 2006 percent change was revised from +0.5 percent (±0.7%)* to +0.8 percent (±0.3%).
Retail trade sales were up 0.1 percent (±0.7%)* from April and were 7.5 percent (±0.8%) above last year. Gasoline stations were up 21.9 percent (±2.1%) from May 2005 and sales of nonstore retailers were up 14.1 percent (±4.5%) from last year.
The advance estimates are based on a subsample of the Census Bureau's full retail and food services sample. A stratified random sampling method is used to select approximately 5,000 retail and food services firms whose sales are then weighted and benchmarked to represent the complete universe of over three million retail and food services firms. Responding firms account for approximately 65% of the MARTS dollar volume estimate. For an explanation of the measures of sampling variability included in this report, please see the Reliability of Estimates section on the last page of this publication.
Percent Change in Retail and Food Services Sales
(Estimates adjusted for seasonal variation, holiday, and trading-day differences, but not for price changes)
The Advance Monthly Retail Sales Report for June is scheduled to be released July 14, 2006 at 8:30 a.m. EDT.
For information, visit the Census Bureau's Web site at <http://www.census.gov/retail>. This report is also available the day of issue through the Department of Commerce's STAT-USA (202-482-1986).
* The 90 percent confidence interval includes zero. The Census Bureau does not have sufficient statistical evidence to conclude that the
actual change is different than zero.
TABLE 1A. ESTIMATED MONTHLY SALES FOR RETAIL AND FOOD SERVICES, BY KIND OF BUSINESS--May 2006
Data adjusted for seasonal variations, holiday, trading-day differences, but not for price changes. (Total sales estimates are shown in millions of dollars and are based on data from the Advance Monthly Retail Trade Survey, Monthly Retail Trade Survey, and administrative records.)(2) (In Millions of dollars) 2006 2006 2006 2005 2005 NAICS(1) Kind of Business May(3) Apr Mar May Apr Code (a) (p) (r) (r) (r) Retail & food services, total.................... 364,198 363,943 361,190 338,604 339,841 Total (excl. motor vehicle & parts)............ 288,760 287,304 285,130 264,568 264,403 Retail ....................................... 328,767 328,520 325,981 305,820 307,011 GAFO(4).......................................... (*) 92,809 92,337 87,677 87,715 441 Motor vehicle & parts dealers.................... 75,438 76,639 76,060 74,036 75,438 4411,4412 Auto & other motor veh. dealers................. 69,186 70,385 69,745 68,040 69,367 442 Furniture & home furnishings stores.............. 9,818 9,867 9,851 9,139 9,080 443 Electronics & appliance stores.................... 8,780 8,746 8,714 8,284 8,306 44311,13 Appl., T.V. & camera........................... (*) 7,192 7,139 6,623 6,638 44312 Computer & software stores...................... (*) 1,554 1,575 1,661 1,668 444 Building material & garden eq. & supplies dealers 30,242 30,363 31,007 27,195 26,915 4441 Building mat. & supplies dealers................ (*) 26,801 27,473 24,012 23,891 445 Food & beverage stores........................... 45,089 44,841 44,592 42,962 42,899 4451 Grocery stores.................................. 40,028 39,832 39,629 38,419 38,354 4453 Beer, wine & liquor stores...................... (*) 3,157 3,124 2,863 2,849 446 Health & personal care stores.................... 18,253 18,186 18,189 17,310 17,155 44611 Pharmacies & drug stores........................ (*) 15,219 15,201 14,501 14,355 447 Gasoline stations................................ 37,300 36,620 34,709 30,607 30,694 448 Clothing & clothing accessories stores........... 17,581 17,553 17,474 16,592 16,775 44811 Men's clothing stores........................... (*) 792 779 788 783 44812 Women's clothing stores......................... (*) 3,227 3,188 3,030 3,033 4482 Shoe stores..................................... (*) 2,130 2,116 2,028 2,028 451 Sporting goods, hobby, book & music stores....... 7,292 7,241 7,230 6,783 6,788 452 General merchandise stores....................... 46,035 45,889 45,550 43,441 43,429 4521 Department stores (ex. L.D.).................... 17,815 17,799 17,820 17,819 18,050 4521 Department stores (incl. L.D.)(5)............... (*) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) 4529 Other general merchandise stores................ (*) 28,090 27,730 25,622 25,379 45291 Warehouse clubs & supercenters................. (*) 24,637 24,276 22,275 22,038 45299 All other gen. merchandise stores.............. (*) 3,453 3,454 3,347 3,341 453 Miscellaneous store retailers.................... 9,885 9,929 9,882 9,273 9,107 454 Nonstore retailers............................... 23,054 22,646 22,723 20,198 20,425 4541 Electronic shopping & mail-order houses......... (*) 14,848 14,939 13,212 13,152 722 Food services & drinking places.................. 35,431 35,423 35,209 32,784 32,830 (*) Advance estimates are not available for this kind of business. (NA) Not available (a) Advance estimate (p) Preliminary estimate (r) Revised estimate (1) For a full description of the NAICS codes used in this table, see http://www.census.gov/epcd/www/naics.html (2) Estimates are concurrently adjusted for seasonal variation and for holiday and trading day differences, but not for price changes. Concurrent seasonal adjustment uses all available unadjusted estimates as input to the X-12 ARIMA program. The factors derived from the program are used in calculating all seasonally adjusted estimates shown in this table. Year-to-date seasonally adjusted sales estimates are not tabulated. Adjustment factors and explanatory material can be found on the Internet at http://www.census.gov/mrts/www/mrts.html (3) Advance estimates are based on early reports obtained from a small sample of firms selected from the larger Monthly Retail Trade Survey (MRTS) sample. All other estimates are from the MRTS sample. (4) GAFO represents firms which specialize in department store types of merchandise and is comprised of furniture & home furnishings (442), electronics & appliances (443), clothing & accessories (448), sporting goods, hobby, book, and music (451), general merchandise (452), office supply, stationery, and gift stores (4532). (5) Estimates include data for leased departments operated within department stores. Data for this line are not included in broader kind-of-business totals.TABLE 1B. ESTIMATED MONTHLY SALES FOR RETAIL AND FOOD SERVICES, BY KIND OF BUSINESS--May 2006
Data not adjusted for seasonal variations, holiday, trading-day differences, and price changes. (In Millions of dollars and Annual Percent Change) 5 month total % Chg. 2006 2006 2006 2005 2005 NAICS(1) Kind of Business 2006 from May(2) Apr Mar May Apr Code 2005 (a) (p) (r) (r) (r) Retail & food services, total.................... 1,744,907 8.0 380,072 357,440 366,989 347,570 337,663 Total (excl. motor vehicle & parts)............ 1,366,513 9.5 296,704 280,218 283,385 268,459 259,145 Retail ....................................... 1,571,734 7.9 343,401 321,698 330,759 313,573 304,176 GAFO(3).......................................... (*) (*) (*) 86,826 87,741 84,275 81,163 441 Motor vehicle & parts dealers.................... 378,394 2.8 83,368 77,222 83,604 79,111 78,518 4411,4412 Auto & other motor veh. dealers................. 347,509 2.5 76,866 71,018 76,929 73,007 72,350 44111 New car dealers................................ (*) (*) (*) 55,889 61,857 58,425 57,550 4413 Auto parts, acc. & tire stores.................. (*) (*) (*) 6,204 6,675 6,104 6,168 442 Furniture & home furnishings stores.............. 46,298 9.3 9,592 9,058 9,881 8,792 8,544 4421 Furniture stores................................ (*) (*) (*) 4,748 5,251 4,644 4,609 4422 Home furnishings stores......................... (*) (*) (*) 4,310 4,630 4,148 3,935 443 Electronics & appliance stores.................... 40,065 6.7 8,084 7,409 8,290 7,540 7,145 44311,13 Appl., T.V. & camera........................... (*) (*) (*) 6,034 6,654 6,067 5,649 44312 Computer & software stores...................... (*) (*) (*) 1,375 1,636 1,473 1,496 444 Building material & garden eq. & supplies dealers 148,674 15.5 36,491 32,827 31,027 31,891 29,950 4441 Building mat. & supplies dealers................ (*) (*) (*) 27,096 27,391 26,317 24,918 445 Food & beverage stores........................... 217,540 4.6 46,481 43,966 44,268 43,796 41,668 4451 Grocery stores.................................. 194,436 3.8 41,309 39,155 39,629 39,226 37,357 4453 Beer, wine & liquor stores...................... (*) (*) (*) 2,961 2,918 2,811 2,732 446 Health & personal care stores.................... 90,727 6.4 18,782 17,786 19,062 17,448 16,932 44611 Pharmacies & drug stores........................ (*) (*) (*) 14,930 15,855 14,661 14,168 447 Gasoline stations................................ 171,381 18.7 39,501 36,474 34,327 31,954 31,247 448 Clothing & clothing accessories stores........... 78,003 6.1 17,102 16,922 16,465 16,032 15,741 44811 Men's clothing stores........................... (*) (*) (*) 754 718 753 724 44812 Women's clothing stores......................... (*) (*) (*) 3,421 3,229 3,124 3,136 44814 Family clothing stores.......................... (*) (*) (*) 6,509 6,267 5,951 5,963 4482 Shoe stores..................................... (*) (*) (*) 2,285 2,084 2,028 2,069 451 Sporting goods, hobby, book & music stores....... 32,122 7.6 6,570 6,285 6,637 6,010 6,001 452 General merchandise stores....................... 210,638 6.6 45,345 44,166 43,162 42,706 40,805 4521 Department stores (ex. L.D.).................... 79,000 -0.2 16,984 16,784 16,455 16,905 16,624 4521 Department stores (incl. L.D.)(4)............... (*) (*) (*) 17,207 16,860 17,370 17,071 4529 Other general merchandise stores................ (*) (*) (*) 27,382 26,707 25,801 24,181 45291 Warehouse clubs & supercenters................. (*) (*) (*) 24,046 23,402 22,431 21,024 45299 All other gen. merchandise stores.............. (*) (*) (*) 3,336 3,305 3,370 3,157 453 Miscellaneous store retailers.................... 47,197 8.9 10,498 9,175 9,530 9,673 8,595 454 Nonstore retailers............................... 110,695 12.6 21,587 20,408 24,506 18,620 19,030 4541 Electronic shopping & mail-order houses......... (*) (*) (*) 13,452 15,447 12,578 12,350 722 Food services & drinking places.................. 173,173 8.6 36,671 35,742 36,230 33,997 33,487 (*) Advance estimates are not available for this kind of business. (NA) Not available (a) Advance estimate (p) Preliminary estimate (r) Revised estimate (1) For a full description of the NAICS codes used in this table, see http://www.census.gov/epcd/www/naics.html (2) Advance estimates are based on early reports obtained from a small sample of firms selected from the larger Monthly Retail Trade Survey (MRTS) sample. All other estimates are from the MRTS sample. (3) GAFO represents firms which specialize in department store types of merchandise and is comprised of furniture & home furnishings (442), electronics & appliances (443), clothing & accessories (448), sporting goods, hobby, book, and music (451), general merchandise (452), office supply, stationery, and gift stores (4532). (4) Estimates include data for leased departments operated within department stores. Data for this line are not included in broader kind-of-business totals.TABLE 2. ESTIMATED CHANGE IN SALES FOR RETAIL AND FOOD SERVICES, BY KIND OF BUSINESS--May 2006
Data adjusted for seasonal variations, holiday, trading-day differences, but not for price changes. (Estimates are shown as percents and are based on data from the Advance Monthly Retail Trade Survey, Monthly Retail Trade Survey, and administrative records.) May Apr 2006 2006 adv. prel. from-- from-- NAICS Kind of Business Apr May Mar Apr Code 2006 2005 2006 2005 (p) (r) (r) (r) Retail & food Services, total.................... +0.1 +7.6 +0.8 +7.1 Total (excl. motor vehicle & parts ).......... +0.5 +9.1 +0.8 +8.7 Retail .................................. +0.1 +7.5 +0.8 +7.0 441 Motor vehicle & parts dealers.................... -1.6 +1.9 +0.8 +1.6 4411,4412 Auto & other motor veh. dealers............... -1.7 +1.7 +0.9 +1.5 442 Furniture & home furnishings stores.............. -0.5 +7.4 +0.2 +8.7 443 Electronics & appliance stores................... +0.4 +6.0 +0.4 +5.3 444 Building material & garden eq. & supplies dealers -0.4 +11.2 -2.1 +12.8 445 Food & beverage stores........................... +0.6 +5.0 +0.6 +4.5 4451 Grocery stores.................................. +0.5 +4.2 +0.5 +3.9 446 Health & personal care stores.................... +0.4 +5.4 0.0 +6.0 447 Gasoline stations................................ +1.9 +21.9 +5.5 +19.3 448 Clothing & clothing accessories stores........... +0.2 +6.0 +0.5 +4.6 451 Sporting goods, hobby, book & music stores........ +0.7 +7.5 +0.2 +6.7 452 General merchandise stores....................... +0.3 +6.0 +0.7 +5.7 4521 Department stores (ex. L.D.).................... +0.1 0.0 -0.1 -1.4 453 Miscellaneous stores retailers................... -0.4 +6.6 +0.5 +9.0 454 Nonstore retailers............................... +1.8 +14.1 -0.3 +10.9 722 Food services & drinking places.................. 0.0 +8.1 +0.6 +7.9 (p) Preliminary estimate (r) Revised estimate (*) Estimates shown in this table are derived from adjusted estimates provided in Table 1 of this report. Data not adjusted for seasonal variations, holiday, trading-day differences, and price changes. May Apr 2006 2006 adv. prel. from-- from-- NAICS Kind of Business Apr May Mar Apr Code 2006 2005 2006 2005 (p) (r) (r) (r) Retail & food Services, total.................... +6.3 +9.4 -2.6 +5.9 Total (excl. motor vehicle & parts ).......... +5.9 +10.5 -1.1 +8.1 Retail .................................. +6.7 +9.5 -2.7 +5.8 441 Motor vehicle & parts dealers.................... +8.0 +5.4 -7.6 -1.7 4411,4412 Auto & other motor veh. dealers................ +8.2 +5.3 -7.7 -1.8 442 Furniture & home furnishings stores.............. +5.9 +9.1 -8.3 +6.0 443 Electronics & appliance stores................... +9.1 +7.2 -10.6 +3.7 444 Building material & garden eq. & supplies dealers +11.2 +14.4 +5.8 +9.6 445 Food & beverage stores........................... +5.7 +6.1 -0.7 +5.5 4451 Grocery stores.................................. +5.5 +5.3 -1.2 +4.8 446 Health & personal care stores.................... +5.6 +7.6 -6.7 +5.0 447 Gasoline stations................................ +8.3 +23.6 +6.3 +16.7 448 Clothing & clothing accessories stores........... +1.1 +6.7 +2.8 +7.5 451 Sporting goods, hobby, book & music stores........ +4.5 +9.3 -5.3 +4.7 452 General merchandise stores....................... +2.7 +6.2 +2.3 +8.2 4521 Department stores (ex. L.D.).................... +1.2 +0.5 +2.0 +1.0 453 Miscellaneous stores retailers................... +14.4 +8.5 -3.7 +6.7 454 Nonstore retailers............................... +5.8 +15.9 -16.7 +7.2 722 Food services & drinking places.................. +2.6 +7.9 -1.3 +6.7 (p) Preliminary estimate (r) Revised estimate (*) Estimates shown in this table are derived from adjusted estimates provided in Table 1 of this report. Note: Table 3 provides estimated measures of sampling variability. Additional information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, sample design, and definitions may be found at http://www.census.gov/mrts/www/mrts.html SOURCE: Advance Monthly Sales for Retail Trade and Food Services--MAY 2006 (Press Release available without charge from Public Information Office, Bureau of the Census Washington, D.C. 20233). Survey methodology and measures of sampling variability are documented in the Advance Press Release. Questions concerning this report should be directed to Mr. Scott Scheleur (301) 763-2713.
The U.S. Census Bureau conducts the Advance Monthly Retail Trade and Food Services Survey (MARTS) to provide an early estimate of monthly sales by kind of business for retail and food service firms located in the United States. Each month, questionnaires are mailed to a probability sample of approximately 5,000 employer firms selected from the larger Monthly Retail Trade Survey (MRTS). Firms responding to MARTS account for approximately 65% of the total national sales estimate. Advance sales estimates are computed using a link relative estimator. The change in sales from the previous month is estimated using only units that have reported data for both the current and previous month. There is no imputation or adjustment for nonrespondents in MARTS. The total sales estimate is derived by multiplying this ratio by the preliminary sales estimate for the previous month (derived from the larger MRTS sample). Detailed industry estimates are summed to derive total estimates at broad industry levels. The monthly estimates are adjusted using annual survey estimates and for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences. Additional information on MARTS and MRTS can be found on the Census Bureau website at: http://www.census.gov/mrts/www/mrts.html.
Because the estimates presented in this report are based on a sample survey, they contain sampling error and nonsampling error. Sampling error is the difference between the estimate and the result that would be obtained from a complete enumeration of the sampling frame conducted under the same survey conditions. This error occurs because only a subset of the entire sampling frame is measured in a sample survey. Standard errors and coefficients of variation (CV), as given in Table 3 of this report, are estimated measures of sampling variation. The margin of sampling error, as used on page 1, gives a range about the estimate which is 90-percent confidence interval. If, for example, the percent change estimate is +1.2 percent and its estimated standard error is 0.9 percent, then the margin of sampling error is ±1.65 x 0.9 percent or ±1.5 percent, and the 90 percent confidence interval is -0.3 percent to +2.7 percent. If the interval contains 0, then one does not have sufficient statistical evidence to conclude at the 90 percent confidence level that the change is different from zero and therefore the change is not statistically significant. Estimated changes shown in the text are statistically significant unless otherwise noted. For a monthly total, the median estimated coefficient of variation is given. The resulting confidence interval is the estimated value ±1.65 x CV x (the estimated monthly total). The Census Bureau recommends that individuals using estimates in this report incorporate this information into their analyses, as sampling error could affect the conclusions drawn from the estimates. Nonsampling error encompasses all other factors that contribute to the total error of a sample survey estimate. This type of error can occur because of nonresponse, insufficient coverage of the universe of retail businesses, mistakes in the recording and coding of data, and other errors of collection, response, coverage, or processing. Although nonsampling error is not measured directly, the Census Bureau employs quality control procedures throughout the process to minimize this type of error.
Current Quarter Retail E-Commerce Sales
Source: U. S. Census Bureau
Service Sector Statistics Division
