On a monthly basis, retail sales increased 0.2 percent from December to January (seasonally adjusted), and sales were up 2.3 percent from January 2018.



From the Census Bureau report:



Advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for January 2019, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, were $504.4 billion, an increase of 0.2 percent from the previous month, and 2.3 percent above January 2018. … The November 2018 to December 2018 percent change was revised from down 1.2 percent to down 1.6 percent.

Click on graph for larger image.

This graph shows retail sales since 1992. This is monthly retail sales and food service, seasonally adjusted (total and ex-gasoline).Retail sales ex-gasoline were up 0.4% in January.The second graph shows the year-over-year change in retail sales and food service (ex-gasoline) since 1993. Retail and Food service sales, ex-gasoline, increased by 3.1% on a YoY basis.The increase in January was slightly above expectations, however sales in November and December were revised down significantly.