July saw a ninth straight rise on the year in jewelry and watch sales from all outlets in the United States, according to provisional government figures.
In revenue terms, there was a 4 percent increase to around $5.7 billion, according to Rapaport News.
As a result, sales have increased year-on-year for every month since November.
In revised figures for the last several months, sales were up 3 percent in June and 5.5 percent in May. Meanwhile, restated figures for 2015 show sales dropped in seven months out of 12.
Rapaport News estimates are that jewelry sales edged up 4 percent to $5.03 billion in July, with watch sales climbing by about the same pace to $666 million.
The rise in sales are in line with a 5 percent rise in jewelry and watch prices as shown by the consumer price index in July from a year ago.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, jewelry prices increased by 4 percent, while watches jumped 8 percent.
Jewelry and watch sales came to about $40 billion in the first seven months of 2016 – up 4 percent on the same period of 2015. Broken down, jewelry revenue increase by the same percentage to around $35.35 billion and watch sales rose at the same rate to $4.68 billion.
