WASHINGTON — Retail sales creeped up 0.6% in September, leading them to post their third consecutive monthly gain, the Commerce Department reported Friday.
Retail sales excluding autos rose 0.4% from the previous month.
Meanwhile, retail sales excluding autos, gasoline, and building materials were up 0.4%.
Economists expected dual 0.4% gains in September for both retail sales and retail sales excluding autos, according to the median estimate from Thomson Reuters.
Retail sales for August were revised upward to a gain of 0.7% from the 0.4% increase initially reported last month. August retail sales excluding autos were revised to a 1.0% expansion from the originally reported 0.6% rise.
“Consumers are still shopping despite high unemployment, sluggish income growth, and relatively tight credit, and their shopping appears to have become a bit less cautious,” Steven Wood, chief economist at Insight Economics, said in a research note.
