The pandemic may be washing its way over America, but folks are still in a buying mood south of the border.
New figures released Friday by the U.S. Commerce Department showed retail sales rising 1.9% in a sign that the U.S. economy’s biggest driver remains healthy.
Economists expected sales to rise 0.7%, up from a 0.6% rise in August.
Excluding autos, the gain amounted to 1.5%, which also was better than the 0.4% estimate.
Clothing and accessories led the gains, rising by 11%, while sporting goods, music and books jumped 5.7%. Electronics and appliances was the only major sector that was negative, dropping 1.6% from the August levels.
However, economists expect that number to turn around when third-quarter growth is announced at the end of the month, with the Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow tracker pointing to a 35.2% increase. That would be more than double any single-quarter growth going back to at least 1947.
