Prices & Inflation
Year-over-year (YoY)
Year-over-year compares a value to the same period one year earlier, which cancels out seasonal patterns without needing a separate seasonal adjustment. A retailer reporting December sales up 4% YoY is comparing this December to last December, not to November — the comparison that actually tells you whether the business is growing.
Why it matters
Most series on this platform are reported YoY by default because it's the least misleading way to compare a single period.
Also known as: YoY, annual change