US consumers boost spending in October

• Retail sales rose 0.3 percent compared to September, to $526.5 billion -- 3.1 percent higher than October 2018.
• The American consumer is almost single-handedly sustaining the US expansion as the economy in the rest of the world slows and President Donald Trump's trade wars eat into US exports.

WASHINGTON: The American consumer came to the rescue again in October, boosting spending on cars, gasoline and food, and reversing the decline in the prior month, according to new data released Friday.

But the overall gain masked falling purchases of furniture, clothing, electronics and building materials, which could be a worrying sign heading into the year-end holiday shopping season and a drag on US growth in the fourth quarter.

Retail sales rose 0.3 percent compared to September, to $526.5 billion -- 3.1 percent higher than October 2018, the Commerce Department reported. The monthly gain was slightly better than the median forecast.

But excluding autos, the gain was just 0.2 percent in the month -- half the gain economists expected -- and if gasoline is also removed from the total, the increase is an even more modest 0.1 percent.

The American consumer is almost single-handedly sustaining the US expansion as the economy in the rest of the world slows and President Donald Trump's trade wars eat into US exports, business investment, manufacturing and agriculture.

Sales of autos and parts rose 0.5 percent to $105.6 billion, while sales at gasoline stations jumped 1.1 percent from September to $43 billion, the report said.

But clothing sales dropped 1.0 percent, furniture sales fell 0.9 percent, electronics declined 0.4 percent.

Online sales, which have consistently been a strong and rising feature of retail sales, gained 0.9 percent and has risen more than 14 percent compared to last year.