Blog
Retail Sales Rebound in October
November 16, 2018
The Commerce Department said retail sales increased 0.8 percent last. The numbers were welcome news after September’s sluggish sales. September was actually worse than initially thought, as the Labor Department revised down the month’s numbers to show retail sales declining 0.1 percent rather than creeping up 0.1 percent as previously reported.
Economists had forecast a 0.5 increase for October. The larger-than-expected increase came primarily from sales of vehicles and building materials, suggesting that the month’s sales were driven by efforts to rebuild after Hurricane Florence.
October’s data brings the 12-month increase to 4.6 percent.
