US retail sales jump 0.8 pct. in sign of consumer health

Some of the biggest sales increases were in autos and gas, with higher prices boosting gas station sales. Even excluding those categories, however, sales rose 0.6 per cent in October and 0.5 per cent the previous month.

Auto sales rose a healthy 1.1 per cent, though many dealers relied on steep discounts. Sales of home and garden supplies also rose 1.1 per cent in October, a positive sign that more Americans are remodeling and expanding their homes.

Home Depot, the nation’s biggest home improvement chain, upped its outlook for the year Tuesday after beating Wall Street expectations handily. Customer transactions jumped, as did the amount they spent on each visit, the company said.

Most other retailers also saw healthy increases: Grocery stores, health and personal care outlets, sporting goods retailers, clothing stores, and online and catalogue retailers all reported strong sales.

Online and catalogue retailers are continuing to seize market share from older-line outlets such as department stores. Online and catalogue sales have increased 12.9 per cent in the past year, much faster than the 4.3 per cent gain for all retailers. Department stores, meanwhile, have seen their sales plunge 7.3 per cent in the past 12 months.

Furniture stores were one of the few to report a drop in October, with sales falling 0.9 per cent.

Steady hiring may be boosting spending. Employers have added about 175,000 jobs a month this year, down from last year’s pace but still enough to push unemployment even lower over time.

That appears to be boosting consumer confidence, which has been mostly healthy in recent months. A measure of consumer sentiment by the University of Michigan rose in the first half of November.

Even with solid growth in the October-December quarter, the economy has been weak this year. It expanded at just a 1.1 per cent pace in the first six months of 2016. It accelerated to a 2.9 per cent pace in the July-September quarter.

Even with a healthier expansion in the fourth quarter, growth may not reach 2 per cent for the full year.

Christopher S. Rugaber, The Associated Press

by Canadian Press

US retail sales jump 0.8 pct. in sign of consumer health

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