US retail sales rose less than expected in January as consumers cut back on car purchases and did less online shopping. Total retail sales increased 0.4% after being flat in December, the Commerce Department said today.
Economists had forecast that retail sales would climb by 0.7% last month. The government had initially estimated that sales rose 0.1% in December, and today it also revised downward its reading for retail sales in November.
The revisions suggest consumers did not spend as much as previously thought during the holiday shopping season.
Sales of cars and autoparts dropped 1.1%, while shopping at nonstore retailers, a category dominated by online sales, also fell 1.1%, the biggest decline since March 2009.
Fuelling the overall increase in retail sales during January, spending at petrol stations rose 1.4% - the biggest gain since March 2011 - while receipts for electronics increased 0.5%.
Excluding cars, retail sales advanced 0.7%, falling short of analysts' expectations of a 0.5% increase. Core retail sales, which exclude cars, petrol and building materials, climbed 0.7% in January. Core sales correspond most closely with the consumer spending component of the government's gross domestic product report.
