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Autos Save Retail Sales
By Jeanine Poggi
TheStreet.com Staff Reporter
11/16/09 09:01 AM EST
WASHINGTON (TheStreet) -- Retail sales rebounded in October, lifted by strong auto sales.
The Commerce Department said sales for the month grew 1.4%, as auto sales soared 7.4%. Results surpassed the 1% gain analysts expected.
Excluding autos and gasoline, retail sales rose just 0.5%. In September, autos plunged 14.3% after the expiration of the Cash for Clunkers program.
But September sales were revised, actually dropping 2.3%, compared to previous report of a 1.5% slip.
Sales fell 0.8% at furniture stores in October and 0.6% at electronics and appliance stores.
On the bright side, department store sales grew 0.3% -- despite the fact that last week companies in the sector like Macy's
(sM:NYSE)
, J.C. Penney
(JCP:NYSE)
and Kohl's
(KSS:NYSE)
released less than impressive outlooks for the remainder of the year.
Unsurprisingly, some of the biggest gains were seen at discount chains like Wal-Mart
(WMT:NYSE)
and Target
(TGT:NYSE)
, which posted a 0.8% rise.
-- Reported by Jeanine Poggi in New York
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