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Retail sales, an important measure often used to gauge consumer spending, cooled in November compared to previous months, though consumers are still spending more now than a year ago.
Retail sales—store, restaurant and online sales, but exclusive auto sales—increased a mere 0.1% from October to November to $465.5B, according to the Commerce Department. This missed Wall Street Journal analyst expectations; they anticipated 0.3% growth month-to-month.
Still, economists say holiday spending is off to a good start, the Wall Street Journal reports. However, some retailers have expressed concerns that the upset victory of President-elect Donald Trump caused consumers to be cautious in their spending earlier in the month. [WSJ]
