Modest rise in US retail sales

New York (AFP) – US retail sales rose only 0.3% from October to November, a slight increase, but indicating that consumers are continuing to buy despite rebounding inflation and shortages of some items.

The seasonally adjusted figure contrasts with the previous 1.8% announced Wednesday by the Commerce Department.

Holiday shopping likely artificially inflated last month’s figure amid reports of out-of-stock and supply chain disruptions.

Online sales remained unchanged, but department store sales fell 5.4%. In electronic stores, they decreased by 4.6%, in restaurants they increased by 1%, and in the food and beverage sector they increased 1.3%.

Sales increased despite a series of difficulties for the retail sector. Many companies have had to raise salaries in order to find and retain employees, or have problems filling their shelves due to supply chain delays.

Weak growth between October and November may also respond to the impact of recent inflationary pressures.

Last week, US consumer prices were reported to have risen 6.8% from a year earlier, the biggest rise in nearly four decades. Some of the biggest increases were in basic commodities such as food, gasoline, housing, cars, and clothing.

On average, income per household has increased in the United States compared to the pre-pandemic period. Salaries rose 4.2% in September from the same period a year earlier, the largest annual increase in two decades. The government sent $1,400 checks to all families in March as an economic stimulus, as well as $300 weekly assistance to the unemployed from March to September.

Most families with children started receiving $300 a month in tax credits in July.

The National Association of US Retailers reported a few days ago that this year’s holiday shopping season appears to be beating forecasts for sales growth of between 8.5% and 10.5% despite all the recent problems, such as the new coronavirus variant and inflation. trends.

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Associated Press journalist Chris Rogaber contributed to this report.

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Anne d’Innocenzio Found at: http://twitter.com/ADInnocenzio