The Commerce
Department reported on Wednesday the sales at U.S. retailers fell 1.1 percent
m-o-m in November, following a revised 0.1 percent m-o-m decrease in October
(originally a 0.3 percent m-o-m gain).
Economists had expected total sales would drop 0.3 percent m-o-m in November.
Excluding auto,
retail sales decreased 0.9 percent m-o-m in November after a revised 0.1
percent m-o-m fall in the previous month (originally a 0.2 percent m-o-m
increase), being much worse than economists’ forecast of a 0.1 percent m-o-m
rise.
Meanwhile,
closely watched core retail sales, which exclude automobiles, gasoline,
building materials and food services, and are used in GDP calculations, dropped
0.5 percent m-o-m in November after a downwardly revised 0.1 percent m-o-m dip
in October (originally a 0.1 percent m-o-m gain).
In y-o-y terms,
the U.S. retail sales grew 4.1 percent in November after a revised 5.5 climb in
the previous month (originally a 5.7 percent jump).