Newsroom

Back to the Newsroom
September 16, 2019

Strong auto sales fuel otherwise flat retail sales

Total retail sales saw strong growth in August due in large part to auto sales, according a new NAFCU Macro Data Flash report. Despite sales growth remaining largely flat in other segments, core sales have shown solid growth through the first eight months of 2019, advancing 5.8 percent.

“Whatever fears may have plagued financial markets in recent months, and which have led to a modest softening in consumer confidence, do not seem to dent household spending patterns,” said Curt Long, NAFCU’s chief economist and vice president of research. “And while student debt burdens are certainly a factor in the finances of younger households, overall household balance sheets remain strong."

Total retail sales rose 0.4 percent in August, while core retail sales (excluding light vehicles and gasoline) increased 0.1 percent. Each of these were down from July’s numbers (0.8 percent and 0.9 percent growth, respectively).

Year-over-year growth in retail sales was 4 percent in August, up from 3.5 percent in July’s year-to-year number.

After auto dealers' growth (1.8 percent), nonstore retailers saw the next highest gains (1.6 percent), followed by building material and supply dealers (1.4 percent). Restaurants and bars (-1.2 percent), clothing stores (-0.9 percent) and gas stations (-0.9 percent) all saw dips in sales during August.

Related Resources

Complete NAFCU Credit Union Compliance Advertising Guide

Guides
Add to Calendar 2024-06-26 14:00:00 2024-06-26 14:00:00 Gallagher Executive Compensation and Benefits Survey About the Webinar The webinar will share trends in executive pay increases, annual bonuses, and nonqualified benefit plans. Learn how to use the data charts as well as make this data actionable in order to improve your retention strategy. You’ll hear directly from the survey project manager on how to maximize the data points to gain a competitive edge in the market.  Key findings on: Total compensation by asset size Nonqualified benefit plans Bonus targets and metrics Prerequisites Demographics Board expenses Watch On-Demand Web NAFCU digital@nafcu.org America/New_York public

Gallagher Executive Compensation and Benefits Survey

preferred partner
Gallagher
Webinar
Add to Calendar 2024-06-21 09:00:00 2024-06-21 09:00:00 The Evolving Role of the CISO in Credit Unions Listen On: Key Takeaways: [01:30] Being able to properly implement risk management decisions, especially in the cyber age we live in, is incredibly important so CISOs have a lot of challenges here. [02:27] Having a leader who can really communicate cyber risks and understand how ready that institution is to deal with cyber events is incredibly important. [05:36] We need to be talking about risk openly. We need to be documenting and really understanding what remediating risk looks like and how you do that strategically.   [16:38] Governance, risk, compliance, and adherence to regulatory controls are all being looked at much more closely. You are also seeing other technology that is coming into the fold directly responsible for helping CISOs navigate those waters.  [18:28] The reaction from the governing bodies is directly related to the needs of the position. They’re trying to help make sure that we are positioned in a way that gets us the most possibility of success, maturing our postures and protecting the institutions. Web NAFCU digital@nafcu.org America/New_York public

The Evolving Role of the CISO in Credit Unions

Cybersecurity

preferred partner
DefenseStorm
Podcast

AI in Action: Redefining Disaster Preparedness and Financial Security

Strategy

preferred partner
Allied Solutions
Blog Post