Retail sales fell in August as the automobile, electronics and clothing categories all fell back during the month. A drop in automobiles sales was expected due to the impact of Hurricane Harvey on high population cities in Texas.
The building materials category saw a 0.5% dip in sales in August, but is expected to jump higher over the next few months as rebuilding in Florida and Texas takes off.
If there was a surprise in the data it might have been with sales for nonstore retailers. Sales for the category which includes Amazon fell back 1.1% during the month.
Retail sales for the “control group” fell 0.2% M/M in August.
Retail sales were up 3.2% on a year-over-year comparison.
ETFs: XLY, XRT, VCR, RTH, RETL, FDIS, IYK, FXD, RCD, UGE, PMR, SZK, FTXD, CNDF, JHMC
Previously: Retail sales fall in August (Sept. 15)
