Mixed results from monthly sales
Sales of Building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers—including home centers and hardware stores—were $38,885 million in November, that's up 12.1% from $34,662 million a year ago.
But the November figure for NAICS 444 businesses is also down from October's unadjusted figure of $39,837 million.
On an adjusted basis, NAICS 444 sales were up slightly from October: $40,579 million vs. $40,279 million.
Those numbers were released Wednesday by the U.S. Census Bureau in its Advance Monthly Retail Trade Report.
Overall, retail and food services sales for November were up 0.3% to $639.8 billion. That's up 18.2% from a year ago.
The categories of retail that showed the most monthly movement on a monthly basis were heading in the wrong direction. Department stores were down 5.4% and electronics and appliance stores were down 4.6%.
On an annual basis, sales were up. significantly across the board, led by gasoline stations (up 52.3%), food services and drinking places (up 37.4%), and clothing and accessories stores (up 34.8%).
Click here for the U.S. Census Bureau report.