The National Retail Federation is projecting that retail sales will grow between 3.8 and 4.4 percent in 2018, with growth in online and non-store sales at around 10 to 12 percent. The federation estimates that retail sales grew by 3.2 to 3.8 percent in 2017. (Those numbers do not include sales of cars or money spent at gas stations and restaurants.) The federation expects the economy to add an average of 163,000 jobs a month, down from 2017.