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The Commerce Department released a report on Friday showing an unexpected increase in U.S. retail sales in the month of September.
The report said retail sales climbed by 0.7 percent in September after jumping by an upwardly revised 0.9 percent in August.
The continued sales growth came as a surprise to economists, who had expected retail sales to edge down by 0.2 percent compared to the 0.7 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.
Excluding sales by motor vehicle and parts dealers, retail sales advanced by 0.8 percent in September after spiking by an upwardly revised 2.0 percent in August.
Economists had expected ex-auto sales to rise by 0.5 percent compared to the 1.8 percent jump originally reported for the previous month.
