OLYMPIA – Jan. 5, 2011 – Taxable Retail Sales totaled $26.5 billion during the third quarter of 2010, up 0.2 percent over the third quarter of 2009.
Retail Trade was up 2.5 percent to $11.9 billion. Retail Trade is a subset of all taxable retail sales that counts only retailers and excludes sales stemming from construction and other industries.
While total sales improved slightly over last year, they were still about $3 billion or more below the third quarters of 2006 through 2008, and $500 million lower than the third quarter of 2005.
Among major industries, Construction continued to be weak with a 10.7 percent decline to $4.3 billion over year-earlier results. Accommodations and Food Services rose 4.9 percent to $3.2 billion. Among retailers, New and Used Auto Dealers were down 5 percent to $1.9 billion, Building Materials, Garden Equipment & Supplies increased 0.5 percent to $1.2 billion, and General Merchandise Stores rose 4.2 percent to $2.6 billion.
Results for the most populous counties:
| |
Taxable retail sales |
% change |
Retail trade |
% change |
| King |
$10.1 billion |
-1.3% |
$4.1 billion |
2.8% |
| Pierce |
$2.8 billion |
3.3% |
$1.4 billion |
4.8% |
| Snohomish |
$2.5 billion |
1.1% |
$1.3 billion |
2.6% |
| Spokane |
$1.8 billion |
-1.1% |
$861 million |
-0.8% |
| Clark |
$1.1 billion |
6.0% |
$483 million |
2.5% |
Results for cities with the most sales:
| |
Taxable retail sales |
% change |
Retail trade |
% change |
| Seattle |
$3.9 billion |
-1.6% |
$1.3 billion |
5.7% |
| Bellevue |
$1.2 billion |
-5.1% |
$566 million |
0.8% |
| Tacoma |
$1.0 billion |
4.4% |
$500 million |
6.8% |
| Spokane |
$948 million |
-1.3% |
$455 million |
-1.1% |
| Everett |
$591 million |
3.1% |
$276 million |
-0.2% |
Taxable retail sales and retail trade by county and city, and a breakdown of sales statewide by industries are available here.
Results for all counties and selected cities, including breakdowns of sales by industry sector, are available here.
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