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RAPAPORT... U.S. jewelry store sales were basically flat in August 2012 at $2.188 billion, according to the government's latest monthly retail trade report. Despite a meager sales increase of only $5 million, however, at least jewelry price inflation for August fell 1.4 percent year on year. Jewelry store sales for the first eight months of 2012 have risen 3.8 percent to $17.597 billion, while the average consumer price index (CPI) for jewelry is running about 2 percent.
Looking at the broader retail environment, the U.S. reported that department store sales for the month of September declined 1.5 percent year on year to $13.521 billion. However, total retail and food sales in September rose 5.4 percent to $412.9 billion. Retail trade sales rose 5.3 percent year on year in September. Nonstore retailers experienced a sales increase of 15 percent and auto sales rose 9.3 percent, providing a strong boost to retail sales during the month, according to the government. 
In its own monthly analysis, the National Retail Federation (NRF), determined that retail sales --excluding automobiles, gas stations and restaurants-- increased and 2.1 percent unadjusted year-on-year.
“In spite of the uncertainty and unease surrounding our nation’s high unemployment and long-term fiscal challenges, consumers continue to spend and shop,” said NRF's president Matthew Shay. “Robust back-to-school spending combined with a series of new, technology-led product launches certainly helped retailers in September. The American consumer is holding their own in this economic environment but the question remains, for how long?”
NRF's chief economist, Jack Kleinhenz, said, “While the latest retail sales data indicates continued improvement for the economy, increasing gas prices and the looming fiscal cliff still pose serious challenges to the momentum we’ve seen in consumer spending.”
The NRF reported that sales for clothing and clothing accessories, electronics and appliance stores, and furniture and home furnishing stores all increased by low single-digits in September. General merchandise stores’ sales, however, decreased 1.2 percent and health and personal care stores’ sales decreased 2 percent.
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