Advance Retail Sales in United States

The U.S. Census Bureau's Advance Monthly Retail Trade Survey tracks sales at retail trade establishments across the country, published as a seasonally adjusted dollar figure roughly two weeks after each reference month closes. This series covers retail trade specifically and excludes food services and drinking places, distinguishing it from the broader "retail and food services" headline figure the Census Bureau also publishes.

• Coverage: Retail trade sales across store types including motor vehicle dealers, general merchandise, food and beverage stores, and nonstore retailers, excluding food services establishments
• Release schedule: Mid-month, for the prior month, with revisions to the two preceding months
• Series history: Monthly data available from January 1992 onward
• Reading the series: Because retail sales are reported as a dollar level rather than an index, year-over-year comparisons most typically give a cleaner read on underlying demand than single-month changes, which can reflect price effects, seasonal adjustment noise, or one-off spending shifts

Retail sales most typically track the combined effect of employment, wage growth, and consumer confidence, making the series one of the more closely watched near-term signals of household spending strength. Because the figures are nominal dollars, a meaningful share of year-over-year growth likely reflects price increases rather than higher volumes, so analysts, investors, and policymakers most often pair this series with inflation data such as the CPI to gauge real consumption trends.