A U.S. Census Bureau advance monthly sales report released on March 13 shows that U.S. retail and food services sales increased 1.1 percent in February compared to January, after adjusting for seasonal variation. Total sales between December 2012 and February 2013 were up 4.5 percent compared to the same period in the previous year. The Census Bureau also released a report on manufacturing and trade showing that the combined value of distributive sales and manufacturers’ shipments, when seasonally adjusted, were down slightly by 0.3 percent in January compared to December 2012, but up 2.9 percent from one year ago. Manufacturers’ and trade inventories were up 1.0 percent from December.

Links: Retail Report; Manufacturing Report