Boston Business Journal
US retail sales climbed more than expected last month driven by purchases at auto dealers and online retailers, however an underlying gauge of consumer demand grew at its slowest pace in six months.
Headline retail sales rose 0.4 per cent in August, the Commerce Department said on Friday, exceeding economists’ expectations for a 0.2 per cent increase, according to a Reuters poll.
However, so-called control retail sales, which strip out volatile items such as food, petrol and building materials and offers a picture of underlying sales, rose 0.3 per cent last month in line with forecasts. That marked the slowest pace of growth since February.. . . more
