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Retail
Monthly Retail Sales Survey MONTHLY RETAIL SALES SURVEY
PURPOSE
To provide current estimates of sales at retail and food service stores and inventories held by retail stores. The United States Code, Title 13, authorizes this survey and provides for voluntary responses.
COVERAGE
Companies with one or more establishments that sell merchandise and related services to final consumers.
CONTENT
Retail firms provide data on dollar value of retail sales and sales for selected establishments; some firms also provide data on value of end-of-month inventories.
FREQUENCY
The survey has been conducted monthly since 1951. A new sample is chosen approximately every 5 years.
METHODS
A mail-out/mail-back survey of about 12,500 retail businesses with paid employees; supplemented by estimates for nonemployers, new employers, and missed employers obtained from benchmarking to the Annual Retail Trade Survey (ARTS). The sample of retail firms is drawn from the Business Register which contains all Employer Identification Numbers (EINs) and listed establishment locations. Sales and inventories data are collected using one combined survey form.
Firms selected for the survey are first stratified by major kind of business and estimated sales. All firms with sales above applicable size cutoffs are selected into the survey with certainty (i.e., probability equal to one) and report for all their retail establishments.Approximately 3,300 of the 12,500 are selected with certainty. EINs are stratified by major kind of business and sales, and randomly selected from each stratum.
The sample is updated quarterly to reflect employer business "births" and "deaths"; adding new employer businesses identified in the Business and Professional Classification Survey and dropping firms and EINs when it is determined they are no longer active. There is about a 9 month delay before new firms are represented in the sample.
PRODUCTS
Monthly Retail Trade, Sales and Inventories reports are released approximately 6 weeks after the close of the reference month. They contain preliminary figures for the current month and final figures for the prior 12 months. Statistics include retail sales, inventories, and ratios of inventories-to-sales. Data are both seasonally adjusted and unadjusted.
Manufacturing and Trade Inventories and Sales reports are released approximately 6 weeks after the close of the reference month. These reports are compilations of wholesale, manufacturing, and retail trade and contain preliminary figures for the current month and final figures for the prior 12 months.
Statistics include total business sales, inventories, and ratios of inventories-to-sales. Data are both seasonally adjusted and unadjusted.
Quarterly Retail E-commerce Sales reports are released approximately 7 weeks after the close of the reference quarter. These reports contain preliminary estimates of sales and e-commerce sales for the current quarter and final estimates of the prior quarters. Estimates are provided for the Total Retail sector on both an adjusted and unadjusted basis.
Estimates of sales and inventories are revised each spring based on the benchmarking to the ARTS. These revisions are released via the Internet and contain revised estimates, adjusted and unadjusted, of sales, end-of-month inventories, and inventories-to-sales ratios.
USES
These data are widely used throughout government, academic, and business communities. The Bureau of Economic Analysis uses the estimates to calculate Gross Domestic Product. The Bureau of Labor Statistics uses the estimates to develop consumer price indexes and productivity measurements. The Council of Economic Advisers uses the estimates to analyze current economic activity. The Federal Reserve Board uses the estimates to assess recent trends in consumer purchases. The media use the estimates to report news of recent consumer activity. Financial and investment companies use the estimates to measure recent economic trends.
SPECIAL FEATURES
Contributes to two designated principal economic indicators. This survey is an integral component of the Advance Monthly Retail Sales Survey and the Manufacturing and Trade Inventories and Sales Report.
RELATED PROGRAMS
Business
and Professional Classification Survey
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You are here: Economic Programs Overview
Retail
Monthly Retail Sales Survey 