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| Retail Sales |
| By Bankrate.com |
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This week |
Month ago |
Year ago |
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Retail Sales
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381,169 |
384,631 |
377,615 |
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What it means:
Released monthly by the Department of Commerce, the retail sales figure
(in millions) measures total sales of retail and food services nationwide.
How it's used:
Retail sales are an excellent barometer for consumer spending, which
fuels two-thirds of economic output. Any drop-off in retail sales
indicates that consumers are reducing their level of spending and
that harder economic times are likely.
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