U.S. retail sales rose last month at a healthy pace in the latest sign that consumer spending is driving the economy’s steady growth, the Associated Press reports.
Retail purchases rose 0.4% from September to October, the Commerce Department said today — a solid increase, though less than the previous month’s robust 0.8% gain. Auto dealers, restaurants, and electronics stores all reported higher sales.
Last month’s rise in retail purchases suggests that the economy is growing briskly again in the current October–December quarter, after having expanded at a sturdy 2.8% annual rate in the previous quarter.
Today’s retail sales report arrives as retailers are poised to enter the start of the critically important holiday shopping season in less than two weeks. Analysts envision a solid holiday shopping season, though perhaps not as robust as last year’s, with many shoppers under pressure from overall still-high prices despite the easing of inflation.
The National Retail Federation has predicted that shoppers will increase their spending in November and December by between 2.5% and 3.5% over the same period a year ago. During the 2023 holiday shopping season, spending had surged by a stronger 3.9% from 2022.
