Last week the U.S. Census Bureau released preliminary estimates of nationwide retail sales in June 2022 and revised estimates for May 2022. (The data include both brick-and-mortar and Internet sales.)
Dollars Spent on Retail Goods Increased. Seasonally adjusted U.S. retail sales grew 1 percent from May to June. Cumulative twelve-month growth in sales from June 2021 to June 2022 was 8.4 percent.
Inflation-Adjusted Retail Sales Declined. Across all goods and services purchased by consumers, U.S. prices grew 1.3 percent from May to June, so inflation-adjusted sales declined significantly more than nominal sales. From June 2021 to June 2022, prices grew 9.1 percent, more than offsetting the 8.4 percent growth in sales over that twelve-month period.
