US retail sales rise more than expected in November

US consumers spent less in November than analysts had expected, especially on cars and petrol.

Retail sales volumes grew by 0.2% month-on-month to reach $448.1bn, according to the Department of Commerce.

Analysts had forecast a gain of 0.3%.

However, excluding automobiles, sales grew by 0.4% over the month (consensus: 0.3%), although the prior month’s gain was revised lower by a tenth of a percentage point to 0.1%.

Excluding sales of both cars and petrol volumes grew by 0.5% month-on-month (consensus: 0.4%).

In comparison with the previous month, sales of motor vehicles dropped 0.4%, those of furniture by 0.3% and those of building materials by another 0.3%.

Sales at gasoline stations registered the largest drop, falling by 0.8% to $34.5bn.

When compared with a year ago total retail sales registered an advance of 1.7%.