2017.12.1409:23:00UTC+00U.S. Retail Sales Climb 0.8% In November, More Than Expected

Retail sales in the U.S. increased by much more than anticipated in the month of November, the Commerce Department revealed in a report released on Thursday.

The report said retail sales climbed by 0.8 percent in November after rising by an upwardly revised 0.5 percent in October.

Economists had expected retail sales to increase by 0.3 percent compared to the 0.2 percent uptick originally reported for the previous month.

The stronger than expected retail sales growth came despite a modest decrease in sales by motor vehicle and parts dealers, which edged down by 0.2 percent in November after jumping by 1.2 percent in October,

Excluding the drop in auto sales, retail sales surged up by 1.0 percent in November after climbing by 0.4 percent in October. Ex-auto sales had been expected to climb by 0.6 percent.

The report showed significant increases in sales by gas stations, non-store retailers and electronic and appliance stores.

Closely watched core retail sales, which exclude automobiles, gasoline, building materials and food services, climbed by 0.8 percent in November after rising by 0.3 percent in October.

"Consumer spending appears to have accelerated over the past few months, and we estimate that real consumption growth is on course for an annualized gain of nearly 3% in the fourth quarter overall, up from 2.3% in the third quarter," said Andrew Hunter, U.S. economist at Capital Economics.

He added, "With consumer confidence at multi-year highs, the labor market continuing to strengthen and Republicans in Congress on course to pass their tax cut bill in the coming weeks, consumption looks set to continue growing at a healthy rate over the coming quarters as well."

Compared to the same month a year ago, retail sales were up by 5.8 percent in November, a notable acceleration from the 4.9 percent year-over-year increase in October.