Retail sales in the United States rose a seasonally adjusted 2.7 percent in August, higher than the gain of 2.0 percent economists had expected.
And the figure, released by the Commerce Department on Tuesday, was mainly driven by a government "cash for clunkers" program that lifted auto sales.
Excluding autos, sales rose 1.1 percent, ahead of an expected 0.4 percent jump. Excluding autos and gas, sales rose 0.6 percent.
The Commerce Department said that retail sales in August was still 5.3 percent below August 2008.
The rise in retail sales followed a revised 0.2 percent decline in July, worse than the initial estimate of a 0.1 percent drop.
The jump in August delivered another hope that the U.S. economic recession is near an end. Consumer spending, which accounts for about 70 percent of economic activity, is the broad measure of U.S. economic activity.
Source: Xinhua
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