Retail Sales Post Better-Than-Expected Gains in September

Retail sales rose by a seasonally adjusted 0.4% in September, following an unrevised 0.1% gain in August, the Commerce Department’s Census Bureau said Thursday. Economists polled by Reuters had projected a 0.3% increase in September.

Receipts at food and beverage establishments were up 1% in September after increasing 0.5% in August. Clothing stores did even better with a 1.5% monthly gain, while sales also increased for general merchandise retailers, building material and garden equipment sellers, sporting goods stores and grocers, among other categories.

Sales for electronics and appliance stores were down in September, as were sales for furniture retailers. Gas stations also had lower sales, due likely to falling prices.

“Strong consumer spending in September suggests economic growth in the previous quarter was solidly above trend,” Jeffrey Roach, chief economist at LPL Financial, told Reuters. “Our baseline remains that the Fed will likely cut a quarter of a percent in both November and December.”

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