General Merchandise: Dollar Change Versus Year Ago

Retail sales results during the first week of 2022 hint at a soft start to the new year, but there is more to consider before making that conclusion.

This week’s dip in dollars feels like a traditional post-holiday response, but the unit decline was much more dramatic. Few industries saw elevated spending compared to last year, and unit growth indicates only beauty had higher demand. Coming off a holiday season that continued the strong momentum seen in much of 2021 — and comparing to the period last year when many U.S. consumers received stimulus payments — it is still too early to say whether this is the new direction of retail sales. However, it does warrant careful observation over the coming weeks.

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