Strong Ferndale retail sales growth reported

Washington State Department of Revenue (DOR) recently released data regarding the state’s taxable retail sales during the first quarter of 2018 (January to March).

Looking at all taxable retail sales including those involving services and construction:

	1Q17	1Q18	% of change
Washington State	$34.1B	$37.6B	10.3
Whatcom County	$913.4M	$1.01B	10.8
Ferndale	$50.4M	$58.7M	16.5

Looking only at consumer sales of items such as clothing, furniture and automobiles (referred to as “retail trade”):

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	1Q17	1Q18	% of change
Washington State	$14.5B	$15.8B	8.6
Whatcom County	$398.8M	$449.5M	12.7
Ferndale	$17.7M	$20.1M	13.5

DOR pointed out the following state-wide highlights from the data:

Construction rose 11.1 percent to $7.4 billion
Taxable retail sales reported by new and used auto dealers increased 2.2 percent to $3.3 billion
Drug and health store sales jumped 9.1 percent to $733 million
Lawn and garden supplies and equipment rose by 13.7 percent to $186 million

The biggest increases in all taxable retail sales occurred in the counties of Kitsap (14.8%) and Skagit (14.9%). The biggest increases in large cities happened in Spokane Valley (11.5%) and Vancouver (13.9%).

Whatcom County ranked 7th in the state for total taxable retail sales during the first quarter.

County	Taxable retail sales	% of change	Retail trade	% of change
King	$15.4B	9.0	$5.3B	6.5
Pierce	$4.0B	10.4	$1.9B	8.2
Snohomish	$3.5B	10.1	$1.8B	6.8
Spokane	$2.3B	10.1	$1.1B	9.0
Clark	$1.8B	13.9	$747M	10.2
Thurston	$1.3B	9.4	$630M	11.9
Kitsap	$1.1B	14.8	$556M	10.4
Whatcom	$1.0B	10.8	$450M	12.7
Yakima	$936M	14.1	$453B	10.5
Skagit	$717M	14.9	$371M	8.8