US retail sales climbed 0.7% mom to USD 724.6B in November, surpassing market expectations of 0.5% and highlighting robust consumer activity as the holiday shopping season gained momentum. However, the details reveal a mixed picture.
Excluding autos, sales grew by 0.2% mom, which was in line with expectations, reaching USD 583.9B. Meanwhile, sales excluding gasoline rose 0.7% mom to USD 673.1B. When excluding both autos and gasoline, sales also increased modestly by 0.2% mom to USD 532.4B, indicating steady but tempered spending patterns in core retail categories.
On a broader scale, total sales for the September through November period rose 2.9% yoy.
