Autos Save Retail Sales

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 Quote), J.C. Penney(JCP Quote) and Kohl's(KSS Quote) 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 Quote) and Target(TGT Quote), which posted a 0.8% rise.

-- Reported by Jeanine Poggi in New York

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