Retail Sales Rose 0.8% in October

Retail sales rose 0.8% last month. Wall Street had been expecting 0.5%. In the past year, retail sales are up 4.6%. Not including gasoline, retail sales rose 0.5% in October.

Excluding automobiles, gasoline, building materials and food services, retail sales increased 0.3 percent last month. These so-called core retail sales correspond most closely with the consumer spending component of gross domestic product.

Data for September was revised lower to show core retail sales rising 0.3 percent instead of gaining 0.5 percent as previously reported.

A strong labor market, characterized by a 3.7 percent unemployment rate, is underpinning consumer spending. The lowest unemployment rate in nearly 49 years is boosting wages, with annual wage growth recording its biggest increase in 9-1/2 years in October.

The retail sales report suggested consumer spending retained most of its strong momentum at the start of the fourth quarter, likely keeping the economy on a strong growth path, despite the trade deficit expected to deteriorate further and the housing market continuing to weaken.

Consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, grew at its fastest pace in nearly four years in the third quarter. The economy grew at a 3.5 percent annualized rate in the July-September quarter.

October’s strength in retail sales bodes well ahead of the holiday shopping season. The Commerce Department said it could not isolate the impact of Hurricane Florence, which lashed North and South Carolina in mid-September, on retail sales.

Posted by on November 15th, 2018 at 2:40 pm


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