Clothing and accessory businesses had a 1.44 per cent month-over-month gain and a 6.24 per cent year-over-year hike in retail sales during May, according to the CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor. The president of the National Retail Federation (NRF) attributes this growth to customers’ strong spending power.
According to the NRF’s most recent CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor statistics, US consumer spending increased in May, with apparel and accessory businesses among the best-performing industry segments.
“Consumers have clearly retained their ability to spend and are driving solid economic growth,” NRF president and CEO Matthew Shay said.
The Retail Monitor showed that in May, overall retail sales increased 3.03 per cent year over year and 1.35 per cent month over month. In comparison, April saw a 0.6 per cent year-over-year fall and a 0.26 per cent monthly increase.
Core retail sales increased 1.2 per cent in May compared to the previous month and 2.88 per cent over the previous year. In contrast, April saw a rise of 0.4 per cent month over month and a drop of 0.05 per cent year over year.
The first five months of the year saw a 2.13 per cent increase in total sales and a 2.48 per cent increase in core sales. The month-over-month increases were the biggest since core sales increased by 1.27 per cent and total sales increased by 1.13 per cent in April 2023.
