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Last Update: 15-Nov-11 09:33 ET
Retail Sales Beat Expectations in October on Strong Demand for Electronics and Appliances
Retail sales increased 0.5% in October, down from 1.1% in September. The Briefing.com consensus expected retail sales to increase 0.4%.
Motor vehicles and parts dealers, which were expected to provide much of the October growth, increased only 0.4% after increasing 4.2% in September.
Excluding motor vehicle sales, retail sales increased 0.6% in October, up from 0.5% in September. The consensus expected these sales to increase by only 0.2%.
More importantly, core sales - which exclude the highly volatile motor vehicle dealers, building material and supply stores, and gasoline stations - increased 0.6% in October. That was the strongest increase since March.
Sales were strong across the board. Only furniture (-0.7%) stores, gasoline stations (-0.4%), and clothing stores (-0.7%) saw declines in October.
A big part of the October gain, however, came from a 3.7% increase in electronics and appliances store sales, which was the largest increase since November 2009. This type of growth is not sustainable and sales in this area most likely will tumble over the next month or two.
Motor vehicles and parts dealers, which were expected to provide much of the October growth, increased only 0.4% after increasing 4.2% in September.
Excluding motor vehicle sales, retail sales increased 0.6% in October, up from 0.5% in September. The consensus expected these sales to increase by only 0.2%.
More importantly, core sales - which exclude the highly volatile motor vehicle dealers, building material and supply stores, and gasoline stations - increased 0.6% in October. That was the strongest increase since March.
Sales were strong across the board. Only furniture (-0.7%) stores, gasoline stations (-0.4%), and clothing stores (-0.7%) saw declines in October.
A big part of the October gain, however, came from a 3.7% increase in electronics and appliances store sales, which was the largest increase since November 2009. This type of growth is not sustainable and sales in this area most likely will tumble over the next month or two.
