U.S. Retail Sales Rise Slightly in September
October 15 2018 - 9:07AM
Dow Jones News
By Harriet Torry and Sharon Nunn
WASHINGTON -- American consumers increased their spending only
slightly in September, undershooting economists' expectations for a
strong gain.
Sales at retail stores and restaurants rose 0.1% from the prior
month to a seasonally adjusted $509 billion in September, the
Commerce Department said Monday. From a year earlier, sales grew
4.7%.
Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected a
0.7% month-over-month increase in September. Retail sales rose an
unrevised 0.1% in August.
September's sales stagnation was led by a 1.8% decline in sales
at food services and drinking places, that category's steepest
month-over-month drop in nearly two years.
Motor vehicle sales picked up in September, rising 0.8% after a
0.5% decline in August. Excluding motor vehicles, sales fell 0.1%
in September, missing economists' expectations for a 0.4% rise.
Excluding gasoline, sales were up 0.2%. Excluding both categories,
sales were flat on the month.
Consumer spending is a key driver of the U.S. economy,
representing about two-thirds of economic output. Overall consumer
spending was strong in the second quarter, a trend which Monday's
report suggests abated toward the close of the third quarter.
Hurricane Florence, which made landfall in coastal North
Carolina in mid-September, may have muddied consumer spending last
month, although a Commerce Department spokeswoman said Monday's
report couldn't measure the immediate impact on a specific
sample.
Gas prices for U.S. drivers were $2.84 a gallon on average in
September, unchanged from August, according to the U.S. Energy
Information Administration, yet consumers spent less at gas
stations. In September, sales at gas stations fell 0.8%, and were
up 11.4% from a year earlier.
Sales at department stores fell 0.8%. Sales at nonstore
retailers, such as purchases made online or from mail-order
catalogs, increased 1.1%.
Retail sales data can be volatile from month to month. Measures
of consumer confidence have remained high recently, supported by
continued job gains and broader economic growth.
The Federal Reserve closely eyes consumer spending data as a
gauge of economic growth, and central bank officials pointed to
strong consumer spending as a factor in their decision to raise
their benchmark interest rate in September to a range between 2%
and 2.25%. They are widely expected to raise the rate again by a
quarter percentage point in December.
The Commerce Department's retail sales report can be found at
http://www.census.gov/retail/marts/www/marts_current.pdf.
Write to Harriet Torry at harriet.torry@wsj.com and Sharon Nunn
at sharon.nunn@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 15, 2018 08:52 ET (12:52 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.