Retail sales increased for the fourth consecutive month in November
Retail sales rose a lukewarm and modest 0.3 percent in the month of November, as consumers began their holiday spending but at a slower rate than before given the inflation plaguing the country, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Sales were also up 18.2 percent last month from a year earlier, "showing low unemployment, rising wages and savings from stimulus payments are giving Americans the capacity to spend more this year," even when rising prices are taken into account.
"Clearly consumer demand is really strong and, at least up to now, can tolerate some of the price movements we've seen," Alexander Lin, an economist at Bank of America told the Journal.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
November was the fourth straight month to see such a sales increase, albeit modest. The jump followed a 1.8 percent rise in spending in October, showing that "consumer demand was strong even before Thanksgiving, which has long been considered the start of the holiday shopping season," writes The New York Times.
Though the Novermber numbers did come in below forecasts, sales in December are still expected to rise, as well.
"We saw consumers start to pantry load and think about their holiday shopping earlier than we've ever seen it," Kathy Gramling, a consumer industry markets consultant for EY told the Times before the November numbers were released. "The great reset for retail will really be sprung in January, where we'll see a tremendous amount of retail regret and we will see a push of returns."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.
-
From candy to costumes, inflation is spooking consumers on Halloween this yearIn the Spotlight Both candy and costumes have jumped significantly in price
-
Warner Bros. explores sale amid Paramount bidsSpeed Read The media giant, home to HBO and DC Studios, has received interest from multiple buying parties
-
Gold tops $4K per ounce, signaling financial uneaseSpeed Read Investors are worried about President Donald Trump’s trade war
-
Why are beef prices rising? And how is politics involved?Today's Big Question Drought, tariffs and consumer demand all play a role
-
Electronic Arts to go private in record $55B dealspeed read The video game giant is behind ‘The Sims’ and ‘Madden NFL’
-
Fed cuts interest rates a quarter pointSpeed Read ‘The cut suggests a broader shift toward concern about cracks forming in the job market’
-
New York court tosses Trump's $500M fraud fineSpeed Read A divided appeals court threw out a hefty penalty against President Trump for fraudulently inflating his wealth
-
Trump said to seek government stake in IntelSpeed Read The president and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan reportedly discussed the proposal at a recent meeting



