U.S. retail sales rise sequentially in November, consumer spending likely to grow over 3 pct

U.S. retail sales rose sequentially in November. On a month-on-month basis, the retails sales were up 0.2 percent, in line with consensus expectations. Moreover, the retail sales data for October were upwardly revised to 1.1 percent from 0.8 percent, more than making up for the 0.2 percent fall in September.

The rise in overall retail sales came even as receipts at gasoline stations dropped 2.3 percent, mainly due to lower prices. Sales at motor vehicles & parts rose 0.2 percent. Outside of these two categories, sales rose strongly by 0.5 percent.

Stripping the more volatile categories: gas, autos, building materials, and food services, the ‘control group’ used in calculating GDP were up 0.9 percent on the month. This was above market expectations of a rise of 0.4 percent.

Looking into details, non-store retailers rose 2.3 percent, electronics rose 1.4 percent and furniture was up 1.2 percent. Meanwhile, clothing sales dropped 0.2 percent and eating and drinking establishments dropped 0.5 percent.

Given the upward revision to October, another strong core retail sales growth in November and soft inflation, consumer spending might grow by more than 3 percent for the third straight quarter, noted TD Economics in a research report.

“This is yet another in a string of economic indicators that point to continued strength, rather than any nascent signs of weakness, (or worse an impending downturn). While expectations can change quickly, there are few signs that the U.S. economy is in anything but excellent health”, added TD Economics.

At 16:00 GMT the FxWirePro's Hourly Strength Index of US Dollar was neutral at 10.6667. For more details on FxWirePro's Currency Strength Index, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex