The traditional high December sale for retail items and food in the United States was not to be last month.

Advance estimates showed that retail and food services sales for December 2020 were recorded at US$540.9 billion, a decline of 0.7 per cent from November 2020. This figure also represents a 2.9 per cent decrease compared to December 2019.

In releasing the data, the US Census Bureau reported that the advance estimate for the period under review was adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day difference, but not price changes.

Notably, December’s retail sales outturn was 4.1 per cent above December 2019. However, total sales for September 2020 through December 2020 period increased 5.2 per cent from the corresponding period a year ago.

The September 2020 to October 2020 percent change was revised from up 0.3 per cent to down 0.1 per cent. Retail trade sale went down merely 0.3 per cent from November 2020 and was 6.3 per cent above last year.

The United States Census also reported that, non-store retailers climbed 19.2 per cent from December 2019, while food services and drinking places were down 21.2 per cent from last year. Non- store retailers were up 19.2 per cent from December 2019, while food services and drinking places were down 21.2 percent from last year.

Total sales for the 12 months of 2020 were up 0.6 per cent from 2019. Total sales for the October 2020 through December 2020 period were up 4.0 per cent from the same period a year ago.

The advance estimates are based on a sub sample of the Census Bureau’s full retail and food services sample. A stratified random sampling method is used to select approximately 5,500 retail and food services firms whose sales are then weighted and benchmarked to represent the complete universe of over three million retail and food services firms.

The U.S. Census Bureau conducts the Advance Monthly Retail Trade and Food Services Survey to provide an early estimate of monthly sales by kind of business for retail and food service firms located in the United States.