Retail Sales Rise 1.3%; Ex-Autos Increase 1.2%

Retail sales rose 1.3% in November, vastly surpassing economists’ expectations, the Commerce Department reported Friday.

Excluding automobiles, sales increased 1.2% for the month while sales at motor vehicle and parts dealers rose 1.6%, following the category’s 7.1% jump in October.

However, economists polled by Thomson Reuters had expected overall retail sales to increase 0.6% in November and for sales excluding autos to increase 0.4%.

Sales in October were revised down to a 1.1% increase from an originally reported 1.4% rise.

Sales excluding autos in October were also downwardly revised to unchanged, after Commerce Department analysts initially reported a 0.2% uptick for the category.

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