2021.09.1612:42:00UTC+00U.S. Retail Sales Unexpectedly Climb 0.7% In August

After reporting a steep drop in U.S. retail sales in the previous month, the Commerce Department released a report on Thursday showing retail sales unexpectedly rebounded in the month of August.

The Commerce Department said retail sales climbed by 0.7 percent in August after plunging by a revised 1.8 percent in July.

The rebound surprised economists, who had expected retail sales to decrease by another 0.8 percent compared to the 1.1 percent slump originally reported for the previous month.

Excluding sales by motor vehicle and parts dealers, retail sales surged up by 1.8 percent in August after tumbling by a revised 1.0 percent in July.

Economists had expected ex-auto sales to edge down by 0.2 percent compared to the 0.4 percent drop originally reported for the previous month.