US retail sales rose in May at the strongest pace in 16 months as American consumers made more purchases than anticipated, official figures showed today.
The Commerce Department said May retail sales rose 1.4%, smashing most Wall Street analysts' forecasts of a 0.6% increase. Sales also rebounded from a slight decline in the prior month.
The bounce-back in sales was the strongest since January last year.
The strong rebound in retail activity is likely to cheer the Federal Reserve which has been making predictions that conditions are ripe for US economic growth to improve.
US economic growth slowed to a crawl during the first quarter, but a sustained surge in retail sales and consumer activity could boost growth going forward.
Stripping out vehicle sales from the May report, retail sales rebounded 1.3%, also much stronger than forecasts which had expected such sales to rise just 0.7%.
Over the past year, overall retail sales have risen 5%, or 4.6% excluding the car sector.
