Retail Sales
By Bankrate.com

Key economic statistics Updated 5/14/2008

Click on the links below to find a fuller explanation of the term.

This week Month ago Year ago  Retail Sales 379,093 381,416 372,034

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