Economic Takeaways of U.S. Retail Sales, Consumer Sentiment

The Takeaway: Consumers began to stir during the month that kicks off the start of the holiday-shopping season. The gain in the headline retail sales figure was the strongest in four months, reflecting increased spending on nondurable items such as food, sporting goods and apparel. The government’s figures aren’t adjusted for changes in prices, and the cost of gasoline weighed on sales. More importantly, the retail figures used to calculate gross domestic product — which exclude categories such as food services, auto dealers, home-improvement and service stations — climbed by the most since May. Read more at Bloomberg.