FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FRIDAY, MAY 14, 2010, AT 8:30 A.M. EDT

Timothy Winters / Ian Thomas CB10-62

Service Sector Statistics Division
(301) 763-2713

ADVANCE MONTHLY SALES FOR RETAIL AND FOOD SERVICES

APRIL 2010

Notice of Revision: Monthly retail sales and inventories were revised based on the results of the 2008 Annual Retail Trade
Survey. The Annual Revision of Monthly Retail and Food Services showing revised data can be found on our website at
http://www.census.gov/retail/mrts/www/benchmark/2010/html/annrev10.html.

The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for April, adjusted for seasonal
variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, were $366.4 billion, an increase of 0.4 percent (±0.5%)*
from the previous month and 8.8 percent (±0.5%) above April 2009. Total sales for the February through April 2010 period were up 7.3
percent (±0.3%) from the same period a year ago. The February to March 2010 percent change was revised from +1.9 percent (±0.5%)
to +2.1 percent (±0.4%).

Retail trade sales were up 0.5 percent (±0.5%)* from March 2010 and 9.6 percent (±0.7%) above last year. Gasoline stations sales
were up 30.1 percent (±1.5%) from April 2009 and motor vehicle and parts dealers sales were up 15.1 percent (±2.5%) from last year.

The advance estimates are based on a subsample of the Census Bureau’s full retail and food services sample. A stratified random
sampling method is used to select approximately 5,000 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. Responding firms account for approximately 65%
of the MARTS dollar volume estimate. For an explanation of the measures of sampling variability included in this report, please see the
Reliability of Estimates section on the last page of this publication.

Percent Change in Retail and Food Services Sales

(Estimates adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes)

F ro m Previou s Mon th From Previo us Year

16
8
7 14
6 12
5
10
4
3 8
2 6
1
0 4
-1 2
-2
0
-3
-2
Febru ary March April
To ta l Ex A uto Au to G en M er Tota l E x A uto A uto G en Mer

The Advance Monthly Sales for Retail and Food Services for May is scheduled to be released June 11, 2010 at 8:30 a.m. EDT.

For information, visit the Census Bureau’s Web site at <http://www.census.gov/retail>. This report is also available the day of
issue through the Department of Commerce’s STAT-USA (202-482-1986).

* The 90 percent confidence interval includes zero. The Census Bureau does not have sufficient statistical evidence to conclude that the
actual change is different than zero.
Table 1. Estimated Monthly Sales for Retail and Food Services, by Kind of Business
(Total sales estimates are shown in millions of dollars and are based on data from the Advance Monthly Retail Trade Survey, Monthly Retail
Trade Survey, and administrative records.)
Not Adjusted Adjusted2
1
NAICS 4 Month Total 2010 2009 2010 2009
Kind of Business
code % Chg. Apr.3 Mar. Feb. Apr. Mar. Apr.3 Mar. Feb. Apr. Mar.
2010 2009 (a) (p) (r) (a) (p) (r) (r) (r)
Retail & food services,
total ………………………………. 1,374,959 7.0 365,832 369,616 317,961 334,767 333,230 366,404 364,854 357,272 336,713 336,207
Total (excl. motor vehicle & parts) … 1,135,257 6.4 299,510 300,309 264,903 277,188 274,636 303,536 302,323 298,653 282,099 281,535
Retail …..……………………………. 1,222,711 7.6 325,707 329,571 281,998 296,355 294,238 326,950 325,440 318,054 298,339 297,904
GAFO4 (*) (*) (*) 92,865 83,866 86,369 86,438 (*) 96,678 95,628 92,363 91,970
441 Motor vehicle & parts dealers ……. 239,702 9.8 66,322 69,307 53,058 57,579 58,594 62,868 62,531 58,619 54,614 54,672
4411, 4412 Auto & other motor veh. dealers . 215,365 11.2 59,723 62,601 47,392 51,082 52,101 56,449 56,144 52,309 48,282 48,331
44111 New car dealers ………………. (*) (*) (*) 50,267 37,442 39,956 41,052 (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)
4413 Auto parts, acc. & tire stores…… (*) (*) (*) 6,706 5,666 6,497 6,493 (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)
442 Furniture & home furn. stores …… 28,811 2.4 7,313 7,796 6,935 6,933 7,234 7,755 7,851 7,688 7,415 7,450
4421 Furniture stores ………………….. (*) (*) (*) 4,343 4,086 3,758 4,040 (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)
4422 Home furnishings stores ……….. (*) (*) (*) 3,453 2,849 3,175 3,194 (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)
443 Electronics & appliance stores …… 31,626 -0.1 7,407 8,122 8,198 7,093 7,759 8,535 8,565 8,679 8,225 8,296
44311, 13 Appl., T.V. & camera……………… (*) (*) (*) 6,295 6,516 5,574 6,140 (*) 6,754 6,888 6,581 6,659
44312 Computer & software stores……. (*) (*) (*) 1,827 1,682 1,519 1,619 (*) 1,811 1,791 1,644 1,637
444 Building material & garden eq. &
supplies dealers……………………. 85,880 2.9 29,358 23,552 16,625 25,730 22,148 25,495 23,853 22,132 22,741 22,922
4441 Building mat. & sup. dealers …… (*) (*) (*) 19,676 14,235 20,898 18,840 (*) 19,996 18,320 19,513 19,584
445 Food & beverage stores……………. 188,875 2.8 47,599 48,788 44,829 46,975 46,224 48,935 49,159 49,321 47,773 47,644
4451 Grocery stores ………………….. 169,935 2.7 42,505 43,774 40,343 42,024 41,561 43,595 43,818 43,995 42,621 42,496
4453 Beer, wine & liquor stores ……… (*) (*) (*) 3,200 2,895 3,153 3,040 (*) 3,463 3,463 3,358 3,370
446 Health & personal care stores ……. 85,959 2.9 21,873 22,761 20,369 21,174 21,647 21,851 21,657 21,509 21,111 21,181
44611 Pharmacies & drug stores ……… (*) (*) (*) 19,359 17,304 18,267 18,550 (*) 18,420 18,292 18,194 18,168
447 Gasoline stations …………………… 135,562 28.5 36,627 35,664 30,653 28,066 27,204 36,300 36,134 35,768 27,899 27,959

448 Clothing & clothing accessories

stores …………………………….….. 63,954 5.1 17,393 17,716 15,240 16,498 15,794 18,260 18,439 17,977 17,280 17,006

44811 Men's clothing stores …………… (*) (*) (*) 635 526 728 588 (*) (S) (S) (S) (S)
44812 Women's clothing stores ……….. (*) (*) (*) 3,176 2,426 3,199 2,893 (*) 3,129 3,044 2,979 2,952
44814 Family clothing stores …………… (*) (*) (*) 6,872 5,607 6,097 6,032 (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)
4482 Shoe stores ……………………… (*) (*) (*) 2,360 2,067 2,187 2,089 (*) 2,302 2,292 2,130 2,140
451 Sporting goods, hobby, book &
music stores………………………… 25,770 4.9 6,345 6,804 5,647 6,097 6,157 7,194 7,332 7,166 7,000 6,826
452 General merchandise stores………. 186,988 3.5 48,200 49,441 45,028 46,880 46,607 51,094 51,289 50,966 49,189 49,196
4521 Department stores (ex. L.D.)…….. 55,025 0.8 14,525 14,945 13,126 14,694 14,182 15,906 16,148 15,936 15,760 15,729
4521 Department stores (incl. L.D.)5…… (*) (*) (*) 15,284 13,424 15,086 14,562 (*) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)
4529 Other general merch. stores…. .. (*) (*) (*) 34,496 31,902 32,186 32,425 (*) 35,141 35,030 33,429 33,467
45291 Warehouse clubs &
supercenters…………………. (*) (*) (*) 30,236 28,135 28,355 28,723 (*) 30,790 30,715 29,536 29,611
45299 All oth. gen. merch. stores…… (*) (*) (*) 4,260 3,767 3,831 3,702 (*) 4,351 4,315 3,893 3,856
453 Miscellaneous store retailers …….. 35,496 2.7 9,415 9,562 8,321 9,010 8,940 9,695 9,723 9,474 9,443 9,360
454 Nonstore retailers ………………….. 114,088 13.0 27,855 30,058 27,095 24,320 25,930 28,968 28,907 28,755 25,649 25,392
4541 Elect. shopping & m/o houses …. (*) (*) (*) 21,950 18,884 17,896 18,437 (*) 21,668 21,266 18,858 18,604
722 Food services & drinking places … 152,248 1.9 40,125 40,045 35,963 38,412 38,992 39,454 39,414 39,218 38,374 38,303

(*) Advance estimates are not available for this kind of business.

(NA) Not available (S) Suppressed (a) Advance estimate (p) Preliminary estimate (r) Revised estimate

(1) For a full description of the NAICS codes used in this table, see http://www.census.gov/eos/www/naics
(2) Estimates are concurrently adjusted for seasonal variation and for holiday and trading day differences, but not for price changes. Concurrent seasonal adjustment
uses all available unadjusted estimates as input to the X-12 ARIMA program. The factors derived from the program are used in calculating all seasonally
adjusted estimates shown in this table. Year-to-date seasonally adjusted sales estimates are not tabulated. Adjustment factors and explanatory material can be found
on the Internet at http://www.census.gov/retail
(3) Advance estimates are based on early reports obtained from a small sample of firms selected from the larger Monthly Retail Trade Survey (MRTS) sample.
All other estimates are from the MRTS sample
(4) GAFO represents firms which specialize in department store types of merchandise and is comprised of furniture & home furnishings (442), electronics & appliances (443),
clothing & accessories (448), sporting goods, hobby, book, and music (451), general merchandise (452), office supply, stationery, and gift stores (4532).
(5) Estimates include data for leased departments operated within department stores. Data for this line are not included in broader kind-of-business totals.

Note: Table 3 provides estimated measures of sampling variability. Additional information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error,
sample design, and definitions may be found at http://www.census.gov/retail
Table 2. Estimated Change in Monthly Sales for Retail and Food Services, by Kind of Business
(Estimates are shown as percents and are based on data from the Advance Monthly Retail Trade Survey,
Monthly Retail Trade Survey, and administrative records.)

Percent Change1
Feb. 2010
Apr. 2010 Advance Mar. 2010 Preliminary through
NAICS Kind of Business from -- from -- Apr. 2010 from --
code Nov. 2009 Feb. 2009
Mar. 2010 Apr. 2009 Feb. 2010 Mar. 2009 through through
(p) (r) (r) (r) Jan. 2010 Apr. 2009
Retail & food services,
total ……………………………….. 0.4 8.8 2.1 8.5 2.4 7.3
Total (excl. motor vehicle & parts) ….. 0.4 7.6 1.2 7.4 2.5 6.6
Retail ………………………..……….. 0.5 9.6 2.3 9.2 2.4 7.9
441 Motor vehicle & parts dealers ……… 0.5 15.1 6.7 14.4 1.9 11.1
4411, 4412 Auto & other motor veh. dealers … 0.5 16.9 7.3 16.2 1.7 12.6
442 Furniture & home furn. stores ……… -1.2 4.6 2.1 5.4 3.5 3.5
443 Electronics & appliance stores ……. -0.4 3.8 -1.3 3.2 2.6 1.4
444 Building material & garden eq. &
supplies dealers……………………… 6.9 12.1 7.8 4.1 7.6 4.0
445 Food & beverage stores……………… -0.5 2.4 -0.3 3.2 1.1 3.2
4451 Grocery stores ……………………. -0.5 2.3 -0.4 3.1 1.0 3.2
446 Health & personal care stores ……… 0.9 3.5 0.7 2.2 1.0 2.8
447 Gasoline stations …………………….. 0.5 30.1 1.0 29.2 1.6 27.6
448 Clothing & clothing accessories
stores ……………………….………… -1.0 5.7 2.6 8.4 4.3 5.1
451 Sporting goods, hobby, book &
music stores………………………….. -1.9 2.8 2.3 7.4 2.2 4.4
452 General merchandise stores………… -0.4 3.9 0.6 4.3 2.1 3.7
4521 Department stores (ex. L.D.)………. -1.5 0.9 1.3 2.7 1.9 1.5
453 Miscellaneous store retailers ………. -0.3 2.7 2.6 3.9 2.1 2.1
454 Nonstore retailers ……………………. 0.2 12.9 0.5 13.8 2.3 12.7
722 Food services & drinking places ….. 0.1 2.8 0.5 2.9 2.7 2.4

(p) Preliminary estimate (r) Revised estimate

(1) Estimates shown in this table are derived from adjusted estimates provided in Table 1 of this report.
Note: Table 3 provides estimated measures of sampling variability. Additional information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error,
sample design, and definitions may be found at http://www.census.gov/retail.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Survey Description
The U.S. Census Bureau conducts the Advance Monthly Retail previous month. There is no imputation or adjustment for
Trade and Food Services Survey (MARTS) to provide an early nonrespondents in MARTS. The total sales estimate is derived by
estimate of monthly sales by kind of business for retail and food multiplying this ratio by the preliminary sales estimate for the
service firms located in the United States. Each month, previous month (derived from the larger MRTS sample). Detailed
questionnaires are mailed to a probability sample of approximately industry estimates are summed to derive total estimates at broad
5,000 employer firms selected from the larger Monthly Retail Trade industry levels. The monthly estimates are adjusted using annual
Survey (MRTS). Firms responding to MARTS account for survey estimates and for seasonal variation and holiday and
approximately 65% of the total national sales estimate. Advance trading-day differences. Additional information on MARTS and
sales estimates are computed using a link relative estimator. The MRTS can be found on the Census Bureau website at:
change in sales from the previous month is estimated using http://www.census.gov/retail.
only units that have reported data for both the current and
U.S. Department of Commerce FIRST-CLASS MAIL
U.S. Census Bureau POSTAGE & FEES PAID
Washington, D.C. 20233
Bureau of the Census
PERMIT NO. G-58

Official Business

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Reliability of Estimates
Because the estimates presented in this report are based on a sample confidence level that the change is different from zero and therefore
survey, they contain sampling error and nonsampling error. the change is not statistically significant. Estimated changes shown in
the text are statistically significant unless otherwise noted. For a
Sampling error is the difference between the estimate and the result monthly total, the median estimated coefficient of variation is given.
that would be obtained from a complete enumeration of the sampling The resulting confidence interval is the estimated value ±1.65 x CV x
frame conducted under the same survey conditions. This error occurs (the estimated monthly total). The Census Bureau recommends that
because only a subset of the entire sampling frame is measured in a individuals using estimates in this report incorporate this information
sample survey. Standard errors and coefficients of variation (CV), as into their analyses, as sampling error could affect the conclusions
given in Table 3 of this report, are estimated measures of sampling drawn from the estimates.
variation.
Nonsampling error encompasses all other factors that contribute to the
The margin of sampling error, as used on page 1, gives a range about total error of a sample survey estimate. This type of error can occur
the estimate which is a 90 percent confidence interval. If, for example, because of nonresponse, insufficient coverage of the universe of retail
the percent change estimate is +1.2 percent and its estimated businesses, mistakes in the recording and coding of data, and other
standard error is 0.9 percent, then the margin of sampling error is errors of collection, response, coverage, or processing. Although
±1.65 x 0.9 percent or ±1.5 percent, and the 90 percent confidence nonsampling error is not measured directly, the Census Bureau
interval is –0.3 percent to +2.7 percent. If the interval contains 0, then employs quality control procedures throughout the process to
one does not have sufficient evidence to conclude at the 90 percent minimize this type of error.

Table 3 . Estim ated M e as ure s of Sam pling Va riab ility a nd Rev is io n to Adva nce Estim ates Apr 2 010
(Est im ate s are s how n a s pe rce nts a nd a re ba s ed on da ta from the A dv an ce M onth ly Re ta il Trad e Surve y an d M onth ly R eta il Tra de Surv ey )
( 1)
Med ian stan dar d err or fo r R evisio n fo r m on th -
(2)
Med ian Perce nt cha ng e to -m o nth chan g e
( 1)
NAIC S C od e Ki nd of Bu sin es s CV fo r Pr eviou s Mo . P reviou s Q tr. C urr ent M o . M edian
C u rren t Mo . to to to sam e A verag e ab solu te
(%) Cu rren t M o. C urr ent Qtr. Mo . Last Yr . revisio n revision
Re ta il & food s erv ic es ,
to tal … … … … … … .. …… … … … … … . 0 .7 0. 3 0 .2 0 .3 -0 .1 0 .2
T o tal (e xcl. m ot or ve h icle & p art s) . . 0 .7 0. 3 0 .1 0 .3 0 .1 0 .2
R e tai l … . .… … … … … … … … … … .. 0 .7 0. 3 0 .2 0 .4 -0 .1 0 .2
4 41 M oto r ve hi cl e & pa rts d ea le rs … … . . 2 .2 1. 5 0 .6 1 .5 -0 .9 0 .7
4411, 4412 Au to & o th er m o tor veh . de a le rs . 2 .6 1. 7 0 .7 1 .6 -1 .0 0 .8
4 42 Furni ture & hom e furn. s tores … … . 2 .8 1. 6 0 .8 1 .8 0 .2 0 .6
4 43 Ele ctron ic s & a pp lia nc e s tores … . . 1 .4 0. 6 0 .5 1 .0 0 .1 0 .7
4 44 Bu ild ing m ate ria l & g arde n e q. & … .
s up pli es d ea le rs … … … … … … … … 2 .7 1. 2 0 .9 1 .2 0 .0 0 .4
4 45 Foo d & b ev e ra ge s tore s… … … … … . 1 .0 0. 2 0 .2 0 .4 0 .0 0 .1
4 45 1 Gro ce ry sto res … … … … … … …. . 1 .0 0. 2 0 .2 0 .5 0 .0 0 .2
4 46 He a lth & pe rs on al ca re sto re s … … 1 .9 0. 4 0 .4 0 .8 0 .0 0 .5
4 47 Ga so lin e sta tio ns … … … … … … … .. 2 .4 0. 5 0 .4 0 .9 0 .7 0 .6
4 48 Cl othi ng & cl othi ng ac c es s orie s
s tore s … … …… … … … … … … … … . . 2 .5 0. 7 0 .6 1 .0 -0 .1 0 .5
4 51 Sportin g g ood s, ho bby , boo k &
m us ic s tore s… … … … … … … … … .. 3 .1 1. 8 1 .0 2 .0 -0 .1 0 .4
4 52 Ge ne ra l me rch an dis e sto re s … … … . 0 .2 0. 0 0 .0 0 .1 -0 .1 0 .2
4521 D ep a rtm e nt sto re s (e x. L .D .)… … 0 .0 0. 0 0 .0 0 .0 -0 .1 0 .3
4 53 M is c el lan eo us s tore re ta ile rs … … . . 3 .1 2. 1 1 .6 2 .6 0 .5 1 .1
4 54 No ns tore re ta ile rs … … … … … … … . . 2 .0 0. 8 0 .5 1 .1 0 .2 0 .2
7 22 Foo d s e rv ic e s & drink in g p la ce s .. 1 .9 0. 7 0 .7 1 .1 0 .1 0 .4

(1) Estimated measures of sampling variability are based on estimates not adjusted for seasonal variation or holiday or trading-day differences. Medians are
based on estimates for the most recent 12 months.

(2) These columns provide measures of the difference between the advance-to-preliminary and preliminary-to-final estimates of month-to-month change for
the same pair of months as measured by the Advance sample and MRTS sample. The average and median revisions are based on estimates for the most
recent 12 months.

Note: Additional information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, sample design, and definitions may be
found at http://www.census.gov/retail