U. S. retail sales grow for fifth month in a row
Retail sales rose strongly in September, the fifth straight month of growth, as Americans spent more on clothing, cars and sporting goods.
U.S. retail sales jumped 1.9% last month, the U.S. Commerce Department said Friday. That’s more than double what was economists were expected. And it’s up from the 0.6% increase in August.
“Americans raced to the stores in September,” said BMO Capital Markets analyst Sal Guatieri, in a note to investors, adding that they were “buying just about everything in sight, especially clothing.”
Sales at clothing stores rose 11%, accounting for