Home Improvement Retail Sales Increase in May

U.S. retail and food services sales increased in May, up an estimated 2.7  percent from May 2014 — but the home improvement industry’s numbers were even better.

Building materials and gardening supplies sellers saw retail sales go up by 4.8 percent year over year, and by 2.1 percent from April to May this year, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

“Retail-sales figures are a key barometer for overall consumer spending, which accounts for about two-thirds of economic output in the U.S.,” Eric Morath writes for The Wall Street Journal.

“The consumer spending-pattern appears poised to follow a similar pattern as last year: Consumers pulled back during a frigid winter and then stepped up spending later in the year alongside stronger payroll gains. This year, shoppers could receive an additional boost from a small acceleration in wages and lower gasoline prices,” he says. 

To read the report from the U.S. Census Bureau, click here.