August Retail Sales Disappoint, but Overall Trends Look Strong

On the heels of strong July spending numbers, August retail sales inched up just 0.1% from the prior month. This was the weakest monthly growth in six months. However, on a year-over-year basis the numbers look much stronger, with total retail and food service sales up 6.9% (not seasonally adjusted basis). The monthly year-over-year growth rate is the second highest we’ve seen in the past 2.5 years, just below the 7.0% we saw in May 2018. With school starting in August or early September across the U.S., how did back-to-school shopping contribute to the August retail sales numbers?