SmallBusinessNewz

May was a little bit of a slow month for retailers, according to new data from the National Retail Federation.  Not a disastrous one, thankfully - just not as profitable as previous trends might have led everyone to hope it would be.

On a month-over-month basis, sales decreased 1.4 percent, which seems survivable.  On a year-over-year basis, the decreased looked more like a less-good 2.7 percent, but small business owners can at least remind themselves that other portions of 2009 were much rougher.

Rosalind Wells, the NRF's chief economist, was optimistic, too.  She said in a statement, "Even though May sales were not as strong as previous months, we remain encouraged by the steady pace of the economic recovery.  Ultimately consumer momentum will be tied to our economy's ability to add private sector jobs."

Anyway, if you're curious about the specifics, stores dealing in furniture and furnishings did best in May, followed by stores specializing in sporting goods, hobbies, books, and music.  Clothing and clothing accessory retailers, meanwhile, suffered some of the biggest losses.

Perhaps we'll see things pick up in June as people get ready for their vacations and the season in which kids spend a lot more time outside.