Holiday shopping gave retail sales a boost in November

Holiday shopping helped lift retail sales in November, up 0.6% to $735.9 billion from the previous month and 3.3% YoY, the Commerce Department said this week.

October’s retail sales were also revised from flat month over month to down 0.1% from September.

The Commerce Department’s monthly retail sales reporting continues to be delayed due to last year’s government shutdown.

Miscellaneous store retailers had the largest boost, with sales up 1.7% month over month and 16.3% YoY. Grocery sales notched up 0.1% monthly and 2.9% annually, while health and personal care stores rose 0.3% from October and 6.7% YoY. Clothing stores got a 0.9% monthly bump and a 7.5% annual increase.

Sales for nonstore retailers, made up largely of e-commerce sales, were up 0.4% from October and 7.2% YoY, aligning with Adobe Analytics report earlier this month that online spend during the holiday season hit a record $257.8 billion.

Department stores saw the biggest monthly drop, with sales down 2.9% (continuing a trend of lackluster department store sales that contributed to the bankruptcy of Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus owner Saks Global this week). Furniture and home furnishing retail sales were down 0.1% monthly and 1.4% annually.

December’s sales report release is still TBD, according to the Commerce Department’s release schedule.

The CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor released this week, however, revealed sales data through the holiday season, reporting holiday sales jumped 4.1% from November 1 to December 31, falling in line with NRF’s 3.7%–4.2% growth prediction. December’s total retail sales rose 1.26% from November and 3.54% YoY.

Price check: The Bureau of Labor Statistics also reported December’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) earlier this week, which increased 0.3% month over month and 2.7% YoY. Food prices jumped 0.7%—the largest monthly climb in over three years—with 5 out of 6 of the main grocery categories seeing prices rise year over year.

Across other retail and CPG categories, prices rose over the month for household furnishings (0.4%) and housekeeping supplies (0.2%), while they declined for appliances (-5.1%), personal care products (-0.3%), apparel (-1.3%), and toys (-0.9%).