IE Business Daily Business news for the Inland Empire.
U.S. retail sales are off to a good start in 2024.
Total sales, not counting automobiles and gasoline, in January were essentially unchanged month-over-month and were up 2.3 percent compared with January 2023, according to the National Retail Federation.
“January sales continued the strong performance of retail sales in December, which is impressive coming off a record holiday season,” said Matthew Shay, the federation’s president and chief executive officer, said in the statement. “More importantly, year-over-year growth was solid, showing that consumers are still optimistic and willing to act on the spending power brought by growing employment and wages.
“This is a great start to the new year.”
January sales were up in six out of nine retail categories year-over-year, including online sales, health and personal care stores and clothing and accessory stores, according to the federation.
The federation cited data from the Retail Monitor, which it launched last fall with CNBC. Retail Monitor is real-time debit and credit card purchase data to provide more accurate information from all retail sectors nationwide.
