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October Retail Sales Look Healthy
The economy continues to move along nicely as retail sales across the country were up 5.6 percent in October over last year, according to the National Retail Federation.
The NRF’s calculations excluded car sales, gas-station receipts and restaurants with the base of the group’s research data coming from the U.S. Census Bureau.
The October results show that the U.S. economy continues to March along, said Jack Kleinhenz, the NRF’s chief economist. “The figures bolster expectations for the major shopping period of the year—the holidays,” he said in a statement. “Thanks to a high level of consumer confidence surrounding the current and future economy, we expect spending to maintain its strong momentum.”
The NRF broke down successes and challenges for the October market. The group noted that sales for clothing and accessories stores increased 4.7 percent over last year. Online and other non-store sales were up 13.9 percent, while sales at sporting-goods stores were down 7 percent.
The NRF predicted that holiday retail sales in November and December, excluding sales for automobiles, gas stations and restaurants, would increase from 4.3 percent in 2017 to 4.8 percent. It is expected that U.S. consumers will spend from $717.45 billion to $720.89 billion for gifts this season.
