2019.10.1612:40:00UTC+00U.S. Retail Sales Unexpectedly Drop 0.3% In September

Retail sales in the U.S. unexpectedly decreased in the month of September, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Wednesday.

The Commerce Department said retail sales fell by 0.3 percent in September after climbing by an upwardly revised 0.6 percent in August.

The drop came as a surprise to economists, who had expected sales to rise by 0.3 percent compared to the 0.4 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.

Excluding a notable pullback in auto sales, retail sales still edged down by 0.1 percent in September after rising by a revised 0.2 percent in August.

Economists had expected ex-auto sales to rise by 0.2 percent compared to the unchanged reading originally reported for the previous month.