Retailers Had a Merry Christmas: Census Bureau/NRF

Data just released by the U.S. Census Bureau shows that core retail sales during the 2024 holiday season grew 4% over 2023, to a record $994.1 billion, coming in ahead of the National Retail Federation’s forecast, the NRF said in a news release. Sales for the full year grew 3.6% over 2023 to a record $5.28 trillion.

“Consumers came out to spend this holiday season and clearly underscored the solid growth in the U.S. economy,” said NRF Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz. “The spending pace was back to pre-pandemic growth and indicates a good start for the year ahead. While the shorter holiday shopping calendar likely influenced the continued trend of more online shopping, there was also a return to in-person shopping experiences and a focus on early buying. The 2024 figures were driven in part by lower inflation compared with 2023, particularly for goods. Even though consumers are still relatively healthy and there was a notable increase in spending, they remain budget conscious.”

The 2024 holiday sales results top the previous record of $955.6 billion spent during in 2023. NRF had forecast that 2024 holiday sales would increase between 2.5% and 3.5% to between $979.5 billion and $989 billion.

NRF’s calculation of retail sales is based on Census Bureau data but excludes automobile dealers, gasoline stations and restaurants to focus on core retail. NRF defines the holiday season as Nov. 1 through Dec. 31.

Specifics from key sectors for the two months combined, all on an unadjusted year-over-year basis, include:

• Online and other non-store sales were up 8.6%.
• Furniture and home furnishings stores were up 5.6%.
• Electronics and appliance stores were up 3.7%.
• Health and personal care stores were up 3%.
• Clothing and clothing accessory stores were up 2.8%.
• General merchandise stores were up 2.4%.
• Grocery and beverage stores were up 2.1%.
• Building materials and garden supply stores were unchanged.
• Sporting goods stores were unchanged.

Click here for more from the NRF report.