US retail sales grow by more than twice as much as expected in March

Retail sales in the U.S. grew more than twice as quickly as expected last month amid big increases at non-store retailers and for gasoline.

According to the Department of Commerce, in seasonally adjusted terms, retail sales volumes jumped at a month-on-month pace of 0.7% in March to reach $709.6bn.

Economists had penciled-in a rise of 0.3%.

The prior month's increases was also revised higher, by three tenths of a percentage point to 0.9%.

Sales were even stronger when those of automobiles and parts, as well as at gasoline stations were excluded, growing by 1.0%.

Non-store retailers saw especially strong demand, with sales up by 2.7% versus February, while those at gasoline stations rose by 2.1%.

Automobiles and parts dealers on the other hand saw sales drop by 0.7% and those of clothing and sporting goods experienced declines of 1.6% and 1.8%, respectively.

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