U.S. Retail Sales Rebound Slightly More Than Expected In October
November 15 2019 - 4:28AM
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After reporting an unexpected drop in retail sales in the
previous month, the Commerce Department released a report on Friday
showing U.S. retail sales rebounded by slightly more than expected
in the month of October.
The Commerce Department said retail sales rose by 0.3 percent in
October, reversing the 0.3 percent drop in September. Economists
had expected retail sales to rise by 0.2 percent.
The increase in retail sales was partly due to a rebound in
sales by motor vehicle and parts dealers, which climbed by 0.5
percent in October after plunging by 1.3 percent in September.
Excluding the rebound in auto sales, the report said retail
sales crept up by 0.2 percent in October after edging down by 0.1
percent in September. Ex-auto sales had been expected to increase
by 0.4 percent.
The uptick in ex-auto sales reflected notable increases in sales
by gas stations and non-store retailers, which were partly offset
by drops in sales by furniture and home furnishings stores and
sporting goods, hobby, musical instrument and book stores.
The report said closely watched core retail sales, which exclude
autos, gasoline, building materials and food services, rose by 0.3
percent in October after edging down by 0.1 percent in
September.
Andrew Hunter, Senior U.S. Economist at Capital Economics, said
the increase in core sales was "broadly in line with our
expectations and pushed the 3m/3m annualized growth rate down to an
eight-month low of 4.0%, from 6.3%."
"But that's still a reasonably healthy rate and isn't a huge
surprise given the slowdown in employment growth over the past
year," he added.
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