The
Commerce Department said on Friday retail sales rose 0.2% last
month. Data for October was revised up to show retail sales
increasing 0.4% instead of gaining 0.3% as previously reported.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast retail sales would
accelerate 0.5% in November. Compared to November last year,
retail sales increased 3.3%.
Excluding automobiles, gasoline, building materials and food
services, retail sales edged up 0.1% last month after rising by
an unrevised 0.3% in October.
The so-called core retail sales correspond most closely with the
consumer spending component of gross domestic product. Consumer
spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S.
economic activity, grew at a 2.9% annualized rate in the third
quarter.
The economy expanded at a 2.1% pace in the July-September
period. Last month's small increase in core retail sales could
see economists lower their GDP growth estimates for the fourth
quarter, which are currently converging around a rate of 1.8%.
The report bucked a recent raft of fairly upbeat economic data
on the labor market, housing, trade and manufacturing that had
suggested the economy was growing at a moderate speed despite
headwinds from trade tensions and slowing global growth.
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday kept interest rates steady and
signaled that borrowing costs were likely to remain unchanged at
least through next year amid expectations the economy would
continue to grow modestly and the unemployment rate remain low.
The government reported last week that the economy created
266,000 jobs in November and the unemployment rate fell back to
3.5%, its lowest level in nearly half a century.
Last month, auto sales increased 0.5% after rising 1.0% in
October. Higher gasoline prices lifted receipts at service
stations by 0.7%. Online and mail-order retail sales increased
0.8% after gaining 0.6% in October.
Sales at electronics and appliance stores were up 0.7%. Receipts
at building material stores were unchanged and sales at clothing
stores fell 0.6%. Spending at furniture stores edged up 0.1%.
Americans cut back on spending at restaurants and bars, with
sales falling 0.3%. Spending at hobby, musical instrument and
book stores dropped 0.5%.
(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Paul Simao)
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