US Watch and Jewelry Sales Fall Again in December

(IDEX Online) - Watch and jewelry sales in the US fell for a third consecutive month in December, as consumers kept a careful eye on their Christmas purchases. They fell by 1.9 per cent according to the latest figures from the Department of Commerce, although that figure will almost certainly be revised. As it stands, it indicates some degree of recovery after sales fell by 4.2 per cent in October and 5.2 per cent in November. Those figures were initially reported as 3.4 per cent and 3.8 per cent respectively but were updated based on actual through-the-till transactions rather than estimates. Having said that, even after the most extreme revisions December will still be a better month than November.

Growth in sales has been slow - below six per cent for every month since May 2022 - but has always managed to stay just about positive.The last time sales growth reached a low point like this was as we emerged from the initial Covid lockdowns. It was 1.1 per cent in June 2020, on its way up after hitting a record -55.9 per cent in April of that year.

Jewelry sales fell by 2.2 per cent and watch sales fell by 0.5 per cent during December, an average fall of 1.9 per cent.

The U.S. Department of Commerce has, for all practical purposes, ceased reporting sales by Specialty Jewelers. The last figures it released were for February 2021. In May it published its first set of revisions in almost a year - revising down sales for virtually all months from January 2019 to February 2021 - but we've heard nothing since.  IDEX Research will publish any new updates on specialty jewelers as and when they become available.

Assessment

There was a bounce in consumer spending over Christmas in many sectors, but not jewelry, which saw a 5.4 per cent fall.  That's according to Mastercard SpendingPulse, which measures retail sales across all payment types. US inflation may have stabilized (currently at 6.5 per cent) but that still means prices of food, fuel and other essentials are rising every month, and cash for luxuries is being squeezed. Having said that, the US Department of Commerce figures show spending on watches down by just 0.5 per cent year-on-year, suggesting possible growth in January. Jewelry sales lagged with a 2.2 per cent decline.