US retail sales experienced a 0.7% increase in November, highlighting a continuing growth trend for the third month in a row, driven especially by strong car sales. When excluding autos, sales still showed a modest growth of 0.2%.
In a report sourced from Census Bureau statistics and shared by Bloomberg, it is noted that seven out of the 13 different categories observed saw improvements. Online shopping saw a notable jump, with e-commerce sales improving by 1.8%, attributing much of this growth to the successful Black Friday and Cyber Monday promotions. However, sales at grocery stores experienced a decline.
Bloomberg’s analysis points out that during the important holiday shopping period, consumers showed resilience, motivated by enticing discounts and supported by income growth that outpaced inflation.