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Cyber Monday helps retail sales rise in December

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holiday spending
The Retail Monitor calculation of core retail sales was up 2.19% month-over-month in December and up 8.41% year-over-year.

Retail sales saw strong growth in December, partially fueled by a late Thanksgiving shopping weekend.

That’s according to the monthly CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor, powered by Affinity Solutions, released today by the National Retail Federation. Total retail sales, excluding automobiles and gasoline, were up 1.74% seasonally adjusted month-over-month and up 7.24% unadjusted year-over-year in December, according to the Retail Monitor. That compared with increases of 0.15% month-over-month and 2.35% year-over-year in November.

The Retail Monitor calculation of core retail sales (excluding restaurants in addition to automobiles dealers and gasoline stations) was up 2.19% month-over-month in December and up 8.41% year-over-year. That compared with a decrease of 0.19% month-over-month and an increase of 1.43% year-over-year in November.

NRF says the numbers reflect the fact that the Sunday after Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday both fell in December rather than November because of the later-than-usual Thanksgiving in 2024, likely giving a meaningful boost to December.

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“Growth rebounded strongly in December from a misleadingly weaker November as the result of the final two days of the busy Thanksgiving holiday weekend being included in December’s data,” NRF president and CEO Matthew Shay said. “Calendar issues aside, value-conscious customers showed enthusiasm for celebrating loved ones with the right gifts at the right price points for their budgets in December. Households are in good financial shape amid low unemployment, growing income and continued deceleration of inflation for goods. We remain confident in our 2024 holiday forecast and retail sales projection for the year.”

[READ MORE: NRF: 2024 ended on ‘high note’; outlook promising for 2025]

Specific sales results from key sectors in December include:

  • Online and other non-store sales were up 4.49% month-over-month seasonally adjusted and up 33.05% year-over-year unadjusted.
  • Clothing and accessories stores were up 4.07% month-over-month seasonally adjusted and up 14.47% year-over-year unadjusted.
  • Electronics and appliance stores were up 3.25% month-over-month seasonally adjusted and up 10.23% year-over-year unadjusted.
  • General merchandise stores were up 3.24% month-over-month seasonally adjusted and up 9.77% year-over-year unadjusted.
  • Sporting goods, hobby, music and book stores were up 3.81% month-over-month seasonally adjusted and up 7.43% year-over-year unadjusted.
  • Health and personal care stores were up 1.85% month-over-month seasonally adjusted and up 6.98% year-over-year unadjusted.
  • Furniture and home furnishings stores were up 0.84% month-over-month seasonally adjusted and up 5.34% year-over-year unadjusted.
  • Grocery and beverage stores were up 0.59% month-over-month seasonally adjusted and up 4.27% year-over-year unadjusted.
  • Building and garden supply stores were down 0.09% month-over-month seasonally adjusted but up 0.85% year-over-year unadjusted.

Unlike survey-based numbers collected by the Census Bureau, the Retail Monitor uses actual, anonymized credit and debit card purchase data compiled by Affinity Solutions and does not need to be revised monthly or annually.