U.S. Retail Sales Climb Much More Than Expected In August

(RTTNews) - The Commerce Department released a report on Tuesday showing retail sales in the U.S. rose by much more than expected in the month of August.

The report said retail sales climbed by 0.6 percent in August, matching an upwardly revised increase in July. Economists had expected retail sales to inch up by 0.2 percent compared to the 0.5 percent growth originally reported for the previous month.

Excluding sales by motor vehicle and parts dealers, retail sales grew by 0.7 percent in August after rising by an upwardly revised 0.4 percent in July.

Ex-auto sales were expected to climb by 0.4 percent compared to the 0.3 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.