This is the first in 4 consecutive quarters that Yelm has finally showed a rise in Retail Sales. Yelm officials always pride themselves on "taxable retail sales called 'retail trade,' considered a better indicator of consumer purchases," however the 1.61% rise was lackluster in this quarter, under-performing the county average, and the 1st Quarter's rise of 5.1%.

Rolf Boone reported in The Olympian:
Here are the second-quarter results for 2012/2011:

• Thurston County: Fell 0.82 percent to $938.8 million from $946.5 million.

• Olympia: Fell 1.96 percent to $418.2 million from $426.6 million.

• Lacey: Rose 2.34 percent to $230 million from $224.7 million.

• Tumwater: Rose 8.13 percent to $114.6 million from $106 million.

• Yelm: Rose 2.65 percent to $39.7 million from $38.7 million.

The state Department of Revenue also releases a separate category of taxable retail sales called “retail trade,” considered a better indicator of consumer purchases.

Here are the retail trade results for the same second-quarter period:

• Thurston County: Rose 2.14 percent to $487.8 million from $477.6 million.

• Olympia: Rose 1.54 percent to $220.4 million from $217.1 million.

• Lacey: Fell 4.18 percent to $130.5 million from $136.2 million.

• Tumwater: Rose 27.6 percent to $64 million from $50.1 million.

• Yelm: Rose 1.61 percent to $24.1 million from $23.7 million.
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