Same Store Retail Sales Bounce Back

Same store sales were up 3.3 percent year-on-year in the December 9 week, with the annual gain bouncing back by 0.3 percentage points after a sharp 1.5-percentage-point deceleration in the prior week. Month-to-date sales versus the previous month were down 0.7 percent, 0.2 percentage points stronger than last week's reading, while the gain in full month year-on-year sales rose 0.2 percentage points to 3.2 percent. The week's small bounce back falls short of the sales strength briefly seen in the November 25 week and more consistently throughout September, when comparisons were the strongest in over 2 years, and suggests more moderate growth in ex-auto ex-gas retail sales during the key Christmas sales period.