Americans rein in their spending a bit in November

Americans unexpectedly reined in their spending a bit in November.

According to the US Department of Commerce, in seasonally adjusted terms, retail sales volumes fell at a month-on-month pace of 0.6% to reach $689.4bn.

Economists had penciled in a flat reading following the 1.3% jump observed in October.

Sharp declines were seen in multiple categories, including in sales of motor vehicles, of furniture and building materials, department stores and at non-store retailers.

Excluding automobiles, retail sales slipped by 0.2% on the month (consensus: 0.2%), while the so´called retail control measure, which also leaves out gasoline station sales also fell by 0.2% (consensus: 0.2%).

Commenting on the latest retail sales figures, Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said he expected auto sales to keep rising through mid-2023 while the decline in non-store sales was likely the result of online retailers having brought forward Black Friday offers.

So neither decline was expected to be sustained, unlike the drop in housing-related purchases which likely had "much further to run".

"[...] We still think real consumption is on track for a decent fourth quarter; we look for a 3% increase on an annualized basis, compared with 1.7% in Q3.

"But we are on alert for a sharp slowdown in the first quarter, as a softer labor market makes people less willing to run down savings accumulated during Covid to maintain elevated consumption."

-- More to follow --