(MENAFN- AFP) The US retail sector in October saw its strongest sales in five months as American consumers bought more autos, gasoline and electronics, the government reported Thursday.
Building materials also lent a hand, rising as reconstruction got underway from Hurricane Michael, which slammed into the Florida Panhandle in the middle of the month.
The bounce in consumer spending overshot analyst expectations and followed back-to-back declines in the prior two months.
The strong spending boost to the start of the fourth quarter and should support continued GDP expansion in the October-December period, a holiday period when American stores expect to see their strongest sales of the year.
Total retail sales jumped 0.8 percent, well above a consensus forecast, increasing to $511.5 billion.
The result put the sector up 4.6 percent over October of 2017.
Sales excluding autos were slightly lower. Excluding both autos and gas station sales, spending rose only 0.3 percent.
Long-suffering department stores, gutted in many places by the switch to online shopping, got a 1.3 percent bounce while sales and furniture stores and in restaurants and bars declined.
Ian Shepherdson of Pantheon Macroeconomics said that, within the details, the results offered reason to be disappointed.
For the three months ending in October, sales excluding the volatile auto, gas and food categories, rose at their slowest annual pace since March.
As a result, all eyes will be on the start of the holiday shopping season in late November.
"This looks very much like the end of the boost from the tax cuts, and it strengthens our conviction that GDP growth has peaked," he said in a research note.
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