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Retail Sales

Key economic statistics Updated 5/7/2008
This week Month ago Year ago
 Retail Sales 379,093 380,197 371,567

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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. Back to key economic statistics page

 

 
 
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