Table 1.

Estimated Monthly Sales for Retail and Food Services, by Kind of Business
(Total sales estimates are shown in millions of dollars and are based on data from the Advance Monthly Retail Trade Survey, Monthly Retail Trade Survey,
and administrative records.)
Not Adjusted Adjusted2
NAICS 1
9 Month Total 2024 2023 2024 2023
Kind of Business
code % Chg. Sep.3 Aug. Jul. Sep. Aug. Sep.3 Aug. Jul. Sep. Aug.
2024 2023 (a) (p) (r) (a) (p) (r) (r) (r)
Retail & food services,
total ……………………………….………..……….6,280,491 2.6 681,456 736,722 726,098 681,679 718,533 714,358 711,291 710,851 702,160 696,238
Total (excl. motor vehicle & parts) … 5,069,548 3.0 553,310 593,249 585,742 548,817 577,027 580,504 577,492 576,484 567,935 563,381
Total (excl. gasoline stations) ………… 5,800,197 3.0 630,230 679,804 668,631 623,885 658,027 663,234 659,311 658,226 644,882 640,626
Total (excl. motor vehicle & parts &
gasoline stations) ………………………. 4,589,254 3.6 502,084 536,331 528,275 491,023 516,521 529,380 525,512 523,859 510,657 507,769
Retail …..…………………………….……….. 5,425,051 2.2 587,755 636,934 629,309 589,258 624,457 617,958 615,891 615,960 609,181 604,187
GAFO4………………………....……...……...…………..………..……….. (*) (*) (*) 137,390 129,958 123,919 133,614 (*) 131,254 131,839 129,690 129,850
441 Motor vehicle & parts dealers …….……….1,210,943 0.9 128,146 143,473 140,356 132,862 141,506 133,854 133,799 134,367 134,225 132,857
4411, 4412 Auto & other motor veh. dealers . 1,106,797 0.6 116,688 131,113 128,325 121,541 129,346 122,186 122,193 122,799 122,893 121,566
44111 New car dealers ……………….……….. (*) (*) (*) 108,581 105,392 99,898 105,573 (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)
4413 Auto parts, acc. & tire stores…………… (*) (*) (*) 12,360 12,031 11,321 12,160 (*) 11,606 11,568 11,332 11,291
442 Furniture & home furn. stores …………… 98,511 -5.1 10,859 11,972 11,391 11,462 11,906 11,058 11,220 11,267 11,315 11,264
4421 Furniture stores …………………..………. (*) (*) (*) 6,341 6,157 6,474 6,528 (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)
4422 Home furnishings stores ………..………. (*) (*) (*) (S) (S) (S) (S) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)
443 Electronics & appliance stores ……………. 66,052 0.6 7,036 7,789 7,659 7,533 7,685 7,446 7,697 7,831 7,806 7,647
444 Building material & garden eq. &
supplies dealers…………………….………..… 369,341 -2.0 39,914 42,914 44,088 39,883 43,921 41,242 41,150 41,153 41,018 41,205
4441 Building mat. & sup. dealers …………… (*) (*) (*) 38,238 39,157 34,782 38,698 (*) 36,006 35,957 35,312 35,601
445 Food & beverage stores…………….……….. 739,245 2.0 81,176 85,238 85,233 80,681 82,889 84,062 83,270 83,658 81,986 81,920
4451 Grocery stores …………………..………..… 663,885 1.8 72,978 76,337 76,240 72,346 74,491 75,313 74,548 74,892 73,448 73,463
4453 Beer, wine & liquor stores ……………… (*) (*) (*) 6,319 6,375 5,894 5,947 (*) 6,111 6,153 6,014 5,953
446 Health & personal care stores …….………. 328,383 2.8 37,282 38,160 37,342 35,946 37,069 38,238 37,820 37,605 36,568 36,593
44611 Pharmacies & drug stores ………………. (*) (*) (*) 31,978 31,642 30,101 31,033 (*) 31,693 31,485 30,622 30,514
447 Gasoline stations ……………………………..… 480,294 -2.4 51,226 56,918 57,467 57,794 60,506 51,124 51,980 52,625 57,278 55,612
448 Clothing & clothing accessories
stores …………………………….…..………..…… 218,987 2.4 23,405 27,274 25,453 23,332 26,657 26,472 26,076 26,299 25,579 25,922
44811 Men's clothing stores …………………….. (*) (*) (*) (S) (S) (S) (S) (*) (S) (S) (S) (S)
44812 Women's clothing stores ………..……… (*) (*) (*) 3,060 2,932 2,959 3,055 (*) 3,066 3,038 3,135 3,121
44814 Family clothing stores ……………………. (*) (*) (*) 11,830 11,085 9,739 11,072 (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)
4482 Shoe stores ………………………………..…… (*) (*) (*) 4,112 3,462 3,078 4,280 (*) 3,166 3,310 3,335 3,365
451 Sporting goods, hobby, musical
instrument, & book stores ………………… 69,986 -3.9 7,636 8,878 7,998 8,209 9,194 8,167 8,145 8,136 8,463 8,489
452 General merchandise stores……….………. 657,490 2.8 71,158 78,584 74,852 70,746 75,414 75,992 75,589 75,860 74,091 74,121
4521 Department stores ………………….………..92,083 -1.4 9,869 11,398 10,440 10,112 11,455 10,882 10,841 10,955 11,017 11,071
4529 Other general merch. stores…. ..……… (*) (*) (*) 67,186 64,412 60,634 63,959 (*) 64,748 64,905 63,074 63,050
45291 Warehouse clubs &
supercenters………………….……….. (*) (*) (*) 58,184 55,711 52,218 55,327 (*) 55,572 55,823 54,168 54,242
45299 All oth. gen. merch. stores…………… (*) (*) (*) 9,002 8,701 8,416 8,632 (*) 9,176 9,082 8,906 8,808
453 Miscellaneous store retailers ……..………. 135,773 6.2 15,527 15,669 15,482 14,548 14,452 15,755 15,147 15,107 14,606 13,883
454 Nonstore retailers …………………..……….. 1,050,046 8.2 114,390 120,065 121,988 106,262 113,258 124,548 123,998 122,052 116,246 114,674
4541 Elect. shopping & m/o houses ….…… (*) (*) (*) 112,283 113,927 97,306 103,679 (*) 115,517 113,135 106,113 104,515
722 Food services & drinking places ……….. 855,440 5.0 93,701 99,788 96,789 92,421 94,076 96,400 95,400 94,891 92,979 92,051

(*) Advance estimates are not available for this kind of business. (NA) Not available (a) Advance estimate (p) Preliminary estimate (r) Revised estimate

(S) Estimate does not meet publication standards because of high sampling variability (coefficient of variation is greater than 30%), poor response quality
(total quantity response rate is less than 50%), or other concerns about the estimate's quality.
(1) For a full description of the NAICS codes used in this table, see <https://www.census.gov/naics/>.
(2) Estimates are concurrently adjusted for seasonal variation and for holiday and trading day differences, but not for price changes. Concurrent seasonal adjustment
uses all available unadjusted estimates as input to the X-13ARIMA-SEATS program. The factors derived from the program are used in calculating all seasonally
adjusted estimates shown in this table. Year-to-date seasonally adjusted sales estimates are not tabulated. Adjustment factors and explanatory material can be found
on the Internet at <http://www.census.gov/retail>.
(3) Advance estimates are based on early reports obtained from a small sample of firms selected from the larger Monthly Retail Trade Survey (MRTS) sample.
All other estimates are from the MRTS sample.
(4) GAFO represents firms which specialize in department store types of merchandise and is comprised of furniture & home furnishings (442), electronics & appliances (443),
clothing & accessories (448), sporting goods, hobby, musical instrument, and book (451), general merchandise (452), office supply, stationery, and gift stores (4532).
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Advance Monthly Retail Trade Survey, October 17, 2024. (Project No. P-7504206 / Approval CBDRB-FY25-0002), Table 3 provides estimated measures
of sampling variability. Additional information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, sample design, and definitions may be found at
Table 2. Estimated Change in Monthly Sales for Retail and Food Services, by Kind of Business
(Estimates are shown as percents and are based on data from the Advance Monthly Retail Trade Survey, Monthly Retail Trade Survey,
and administrative records.)
Percent Change1
Jul. 2024
Sep. 2024 Advance Aug. 2024 Preliminary through
NAICS Kind of Business from -- from -- Sep. 2024 from --
code Apr. 2024 Jul. 2023
Aug. 2024 Sep. 2023 Jul. 2024 Aug. 2023 through through
(p) (r) (r) (r) Jun. 2024 Sep. 2023
Retail & food services,
total ………………………………..…………..……… 0.4 1.7 0.1 2.2 1.3 2.3
Total (excl. motor vehicle & parts) ….. 0.5 2.2 0.2 2.5 1.1 2.6
Total (excl. gasoline stations) …………… 0.6 2.8 0.2 2.9 1.6 2.9
Total (excl. motor vehicle & parts &
gasoline stations) ……………………….……… 0.7 3.7 0.3 3.5 1.6 3.5
Retail ………………………..………..………….. 0.3 1.4 0.0 1.9 1.3 2.1
441 Motor vehicle & parts dealers ……………… 0.0 -0.3 -0.4 0.7 1.9 0.7
4411, 4412 Auto & other motor veh. dealers … 0.0 -0.6 -0.5 0.5 2.0 0.5
442 Furniture & home furn. stores ……………… -1.4 -2.3 -0.4 -0.4 1.4 -1.1
443 Electronics & appliance stores …….………… -3.3 -4.6 -1.7 0.7 -2.5 -0.2
444 Building material & garden eq. &
supplies dealers………………………………….. 0.2 0.5 0.0 -0.1 1.8 0.2
445 Food & beverage stores…………………………. 1.0 2.5 -0.5 1.6 1.0 2.3
4451 Grocery stores …………………….………….. 1.0 2.5 -0.5 1.5 1.1 2.3
446 Health & personal care stores ……………… 1.1 4.6 0.6 3.4 3.6 4.3
447 Gasoline stations ……………………..………….. -1.6 -10.7 -1.2 -6.5 -2.9 -5.6
448 Clothing & clothing accessories
stores ……………………….……………………..… 1.5 3.5 -0.8 0.6 0.6 2.3
451 Sporting goods, hobby, musical
instrument, & book stores ………………… 0.3 -3.5 0.1 -4.1 -0.5 -5.0
452 General merchandise stores…………………… 0.5 2.6 -0.4 2.0 0.8 2.4
4521 Department stores ………………………. 0.4 -1.2 -1.0 -2.1 -0.5 -1.2
453 Miscellaneous store retailers ……….……… 4.0 7.9 0.3 9.1 1.3 7.1
454 Nonstore retailers …………………….…………. 0.4 7.1 1.6 8.1 2.6 7.0
722 Food services & drinking places ………….. 1.0 3.7 0.5 3.6 1.3 3.7

(p) Preliminary estimate (r) Revised estimate

(1) Estimates shown in this table are derived from adjusted estimates provided in Table 1 of this report.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Advance Monthly Retail Trade Survey, October 17, 2024. (Project No. P-7504206 / Approval CBDRB-FY25-0002),
Table 3 provides estimated measures of sampling variability. Additional information on confidentiality protection, sampling error,
nonsampling error, sample design, and definitions may be found at <www.census.gov/retail/how_surveys_are_collected.html>.
Table 3. Estimated Measures of Sampling Variability and Revision to Advance Estimates Sep. 2024
(Estimates are shown as percents and are based on data from the Advance Monthly Retail Trade Survey and Monthly Retail Trade Survey)
Median standard error(1) for Revision for month-
Median Percent change to-month change(2)
NAICS Code Kind of Business CV (1) for Previous Mo. Previous Qtr. Current Mo. Median
Current Mo. to to to same Average absolute
(%) Current Mo. Current Qtr. Mo. Last Yr. revision revision
Retail & food services,
total ………………..………………………………… 0.9 0.3 0.1 0.3 0.0 0.2
Total (excl. motor vehicle & parts) ………. 1.1 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.0 0.1
Total (excl. gasoline stations) …………… 0.9 0.3 0.2 0.3 0.0 0.2
Total (excl. motor vehicle & parts &
gasoline stations) ……………………………… 1.2 0.2 0.2 0.4 0.0 0.1
Retail, total …..…………………………………… 0.8 0.3 0.2 0.3 0.0 0.2
441 Motor vehicle & parts dealers ……………… 1.6 0.8 0.4 1.0 0.0 0.4
4411, 4412 Auto & other motor veh. dealers ……… 1.7 0.9 0.5 1.1 0.0 0.4
442 Furniture & home furn. stores………………. 2.9 1.8 0.8 1.9 0.4 1.2
443 Electronics & appliance stores ………… 2.1 0.8 0.5 1.1 -0.2 0.6
444 Building material & garden eq. &
supplies dealers………………………………… 3.0 0.8 0.6 1.1 0.1 0.2
445 Food & beverage stores………………………… 0.7 0.2 0.2 0.4 -0.1 0.1
4451 Grocery stores ………………………………. 0.8 0.1 0.2 0.4 -0.1 0.1
446 Health & personal care stores ……………… 3.5 0.5 0.4 0.8 -0.1 0.3
447 Gasoline stations ………………………………… 1.5 0.5 0.3 0.5 0.0 0.5
448 Clothing & clothing accessories
stores ………………………………………………… 3.1 0.8 0.6 1.1 0.0 0.3
451 Sporting goods, hobby, musical
instrument, & book stores ………………..… 2.6 1.1 1.0 1.4 -0.2 0.4
452 General merchandise stores………………… 1.3 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.1
4521 Department stores ………………………… 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2