U.S. retail sales edged up 0.1% in September
WASHINGTON — U.S. consumer spending edged up a slight 0.1 percent in September, a disappointing performance in which rebounding auto sales were offset by weakness in other areas.
But a category of retail sales that excludes volatile categories showed a much stronger 0.5 percent gain in September, a big improvement after no gain in August.
The Commerce Department said Monday that the scant overall gain in September followed an equally meager 0.1 percent increase in August.
It was the weakest twomonth performance since the start of the year and was well below economist projections of a solid 0.6 percent rise in sales.
Retail sales are closely watched for signs that they can provide for consumer spending, which drives two-thirds of economic activity.
The economy expanded at a sizzling 4.2 percent rate in the second quarter.
Analysts have been forecasting that growth will come in at still-solid rate above 3 percent in the just completed third quarter but the weakness in retail sales may cause them to rethink their forecasts.
Meanwhile, after a wobbly day of trading, U.S. stocks fell for the seventh time in eight days Monday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average retreated 89.44 points, or 0.4 percent, to 25,250.55.
The Nasdaq composite skidded 66.15 points, or 0.9 percent, to 7,430.74.
The S&P 500 index lost 16.34 points, or 0.6 percent, to 2,750.79.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks added 6.44 points, or 0.4 percent, to 1,553.12.
In a sign investors were nervous about stocks, gold rose 0.7 percent to $1,230.30 an ounce and silver picked up 0.6 percent to $14.73 an ounce. Copper lost 0.4 percent to $2.79 a pound.