Retail Trade Survey: August 2009

For August 2009 compared with July 2009 (on a seasonally adjusted basis):

• Total retail sales rose 1.1 percent ($60 million); two-thirds of industries showing increases.
• Core retail sales rose 1.2 percent ($49 million).
• Clothing and softgoods retailing, up 6.5 percent ($14 million) and automotive fuel retailing, up 1.9 percent ($10 million) had the largest sales increases.
• The biggest decreases were in motor vehicle retailing, down 1.4 percent ($7 million) and supermarket and grocery stores, down 0.2 percent ($3 million).

The total retail sales trend has been rising since February 2009.