Total retail and food service sales for December rose 4.1 percent year-over-year to $469.1 billion. That was up 0.6 percent from November, according to data reported by the Commerce Department and Census Bureau.
Holiday retail sales rose in December, even as department stores saw their sales plunge.
Total retail and food service sales for December rose 4.1 percent year-over-year to $469.1 billion, according to advance seasonally adjusted estimates released Friday by the U.S. Commerce Department and Census Bureau. That was up 0.6 percent from November.
Department store sales plunged 8.4 percent year-over-year, while sporting goods, hobby, book and music stores also saw a decrease (of 3.6 percent), as did electronics and appliance stores (down 2.4 percent). Over the month, department store sales fell 0.6 percent from November.
The category that includes online, as well as catalog and kiosk retailers, saw a 13.2 jump in sales from December 2015.
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Most other categories also saw year-over-year increases, including auto and auto parts dealers (up 6.8 percent), gas stations (6.3 percent), furniture (3.1 percent) and clothing (0.9 percent).
The numbers mirror the news over the last few weeks of department store closures and e-commerce growth.
Macy’s issued a list of stores it would be closing, including the one at Everett Mall, as part of its shuttering of 100 stores nationwide. Sears said it would be closing 150 Sears and Kmart stores by this spring, including the Sears store at Alderwood mall.
Amazon, meanwhile, said Thursday it would be hiring 100,000 U.S. workers over the next 18 months.