8月社零报告专题：8月社零同增3.4%，静待政策加码

Investment Rating - The industry investment rating is "Overweight" [1] Core Viewpoints - In August 2025, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached 39,668 billion yuan, with a year-on-year growth of 3.4%, which is below the consensus expectation of 3.8% [11][5] - The rural market's growth rate outpaced that of urban areas, with urban retail sales growing by 3.2% and rural retail sales growing by 4.6% [13][5] - Online consumption continues to accelerate, with cumulative online retail sales of goods and services growing by 9.6% and 6.4% respectively from January to August [15][5] - The CPI turned negative in August, decreasing by 0.4% year-on-year, while the PPI's decline narrowed to -2.9% [36][5] - The unemployment rate in urban areas rose to 5.3% in August, reflecting a slight increase [49][5] Summary by Sections Overall Retail Sales - The year-on-year growth of retail sales in August was 3.4%, indicating stable growth [10] - The total retail sales for August 2025 were 39,668 billion yuan, which is lower than the expected growth [11] Regional Performance - Urban retail sales amounted to 34,387 billion yuan, growing by 3.2%, while rural retail sales reached 5,281 billion yuan, with a growth rate of 4.6% [13] Channel Performance - Online consumption showed strong growth, with a year-on-year increase of 3.38% in August, while offline retail sales grew by 2.0% [16][15] Category Performance - The restaurant sector continued to recover, with a year-on-year increase of 2.1% in August, while overall retail sales of goods grew by 3.6% [23][5] - The performance of essential, discretionary, and real estate-related categories was relatively strong, with year-on-year growth rates of 4.75%, 6.45%, and 3.26% respectively [29][5] Price Performance - The CPI decreased by 0.4% year-on-year in August, while the PPI's decline narrowed to -2.9% [36][5] - Food prices fell by 4.3% year-on-year, primarily due to significant declines in pork and fresh vegetables [38][5] Employment Situation - The urban unemployment rate rose to 5.3% in August, reflecting a slight increase compared to previous months [49][5] Investment Recommendations - There is potential for service consumption to be released, with recommendations to focus on sectors such as cultural tourism, hotels, and duty-free shops [57][5] - The cosmetics sector showed a year-on-year growth of 5.1% in August, indicating strong performance in a traditionally slow season [57][5]