US retail sales rise 1.2% in May, as expected
Updated : 13:56
US retail sales rose 1.2% to $444.9bn in May compared to a month earlier, as expected by analysts, according to the Department of Commerce on Thursday.
It followed a 0.2% increase in April, revised from a previously estimated flat reading, as consumer spending was boosted by cheaper fuel.
On a year-on-year comparison sales were up 2.7%.
The increase was driven by strong auto and gas sales, but the improvement was broad based. Every category outside of health and personal-care stores saw a gain in sales.
"Together with the more upbeat news from the Quarterly Services Survey released yesterday, first-quarter consumption growth will be revised higher," said Paul Ashworth, chief US economist at Capital Economics.
"Indeed, it is now possible that GDP didn't actually contract in the first quarter."