BCN-04 Online shopping pushes US retail sales up 0.4% in December

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BCN-04

US-ECONOMY-RETAIL-INDICATOR

Online shopping pushes US retail sales up 0.4% in December

WASHINGTON, Jan 13, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – A holiday season jump in online
shopping sent US retail sales higher in December, and helped push 2017 sales
to their biggest gain in three years, the government reported Friday.

The gains came despite falling sales at department stores and other
traditional brick and mortar retailers, according to the monthly report from
the Commerce Department.

Total retail sales rose to $495.4 billion in the final month of the year, a
0.4 percent increase compared to November.

Sales for all of last year rose 4.2 percent, the biggest increase since
2014, outpacing the 3.2 percent rise in 2016, according to the report.

Another closely-watched measure of sales — excluding autos — also
increased 0.4 percent in the month, and posted a gain of 4.3 for the full
year, which was the biggest increase since 2011.

Auto sales rose 0.2 percent last month.

The biggest gains came in the category known as “nonstore retailers” which
rose 1.2 percent in the month and were up nearly 13 percent compared to the
same month of last year.

Meanwhile, traditional retailers, despite reports of healthy sales from
some stores during the holiday shopping season, continue to struggle.
Department store sales declined 1.1 percent from the prior month, while
sporting goods stores fell 1.6 percent.

BSS/AFP/MR/1035 hrs