Economics
U.S. Retail Sales Rise Most in Five Months on Autos, Fuel
- October figure tops estimates; prior months revised downward
- Increase in ‘control group’ subset is less than projected
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U.S. retail sales rose in October by the most in five months on purchases of autos, fuel and building materials, rebounding after Hurricane Florence may have depressed demand in September.
The value of overall sales increased 0.8 percent after a 0.1 percent decrease in the prior month that was revised from a gain, Commerce Department figures showed Thursday. The median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a 0.5 percent advance.