Adjusted estimated sales at furniture and home furnishings stores slipped last month compared to September, dipping 0.9 percent to $9.1 billion, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. However, sales in October increased of 1.7 percent compared to October 2015.

Overall U.S. retail and foodservice sales for October were $465.9 billion, an increase of 0.8 percent from September and 4.3 percent above October 2015.

“October’s strong sales and September’s upward revisions show that consumer spending improved despite the headwinds from the polarizing election and warmer than normal weather,” Jack Kleinhenz, chief economist for the National Retail Federation, said in reflecting on the bureau’s numbers. “Recent solid wage gains and other fundamentals are generating uplift, positioning consumers and retailers for the healthy holiday season NRF is forecasting.”

In the general merchandise stores category, which includes department stores, sales increased 0.4 percent from August, to $55 billion. Department stores, excluding leased departments, went down 0.7 percent month to month, to $12.7 billion. Both general merchandise stores and department stores (without leased departments) were down 2.3 percent and 7.3 percent, respectively, when compared to October 2015.

(Source: hfndigital.com  Author: Andrea Lillo)