US retail sales grow for 5th month in a row
NEWYORK— Retail sales rose strongly in September, the fifth straight month of growth, asAmericansspentmoreonclothing, 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 inAugust.
“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 much of September’s overall growth. Even sales at department stores, which have been falling out of fashion with shoppers for years, rose 9.7% last month.
At auto dealerships and auto part shops, sales were up 3.6%. And those looking to go campingorbuyexercise equipmentsent sales at sporting goods stores 5.7% higher.
Retail sales have been recovering plunging in the spring as stores and since malls were ordered closed to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. And spending has continued even after more than 20 million unemployed Americans lost a $600 boost in their weekly unemployment checks at the end of July.
Services such as haircuts and hotel stays are not included in Friday’s report. All of those types of businesses have been badly hurt by the pandemic.
Whether people will keep shopping remains to be seen. The unemployment rate is still high, at 7.8% last month. Some economists saymore federalchecksfor out-of-work Americans are needed to sustain spending. And some say rising COVID-19 cases could keep people away fromstores.
Retailers are already facing season like no other.
Best Buy, Target and Walmart offered holiday deals in mid-October for the first time, piggybacking off Amazon’s Prime Day sales event.
Stores hope the October deals will jumpstart holiday shopping early and keep crowds away inNovember and December, avoiding a potentially dangerous situation during a pandemic. a holiday