WASHINGTON — Consumers opened up their wallets a bit more last month but there is still a long way to go before purchasing is at the levels of last year.
Retail sales increased 1% in January, the first rise after six consecutive months of declining sales numbers. Last month's figures were 9.7% below those of January 2008.
Total retail and food sales in January were $344.6 billion, up from the revised figure of $341,072 billion for December.
Recommended For You
January's numbers showed a .1.6% increase in automobile sales (a 22.2% increase from January 2008) and a 1.1% drop in all other types of retail sales (an 11.1% decline from January 2008).
Sales fell or experienced slight increases in almost all of the retail categories measured. The largest declines were at building supply and garden stores which lost 3.2% of sales from December and 12% from January 2008.
The largest increase was at gasoline stations and electronic/appliance stores which saw sales rise 2.6% from December. But sales at those outlets fell 35.5% and 7.8%, respectively from January 2008.Sales at health and personal care stores were unchanged.
Sales at department stores fell 0.3% and increased 0.8% at restaurants and bars.
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
