Retail Sales Slowed Only a Bit Last Year

The Commerce Department reported a solid 3.4% increase in overall retail and food service sales between 2001 and 2002. This was down only a bit from the 3.7% sales gain recorded the year before, although only about half as strong as the average annual increase recorded throughout the latter half of the 1990s.

Gains substantially above the average were recorded in health, drug, and personal care stores (8.0%); electronics and appliance stores (6.3%); and in the food services/drinking places category (5.5%). Sales within sporting goods, hobby, and book and music stores totaled an estimated $88.9 billion during 2002—4.9% more than over all 12 months of 2001. Sales growth at book stores was estimated at 8.6% between 2000 and 2001, so last year's numbers for the more-inclusive store group suggested a substantial slowdown, but also showed sales growth that continued to exceed the pace of retail stores in the aggregate.

However, there is gathering evidence that American consumers are beginning to show the strain of this long period of uncertainty, thus it looks like we're still a couple of years away from achieving the kinds of annual retail sales gains that became commonplace over the mid- and late 1990s.