US exauto retail sales flat in DecSpendingPulse
NEW YORK, Jan 11 (Reuters) - U.S. retail sales excluding
cars were unchanged in December, suggesting consumers reined in
purchases on growing worries about the economy due to the
housing slump and high oil prices, according to data published
by SpendingPulse on Friday.
It was the first time since November 2006 that ex-auto
retail sales failed to register a gain on a month-over-month
basis, said SpendingPulse, the retail data service of
MasterCard Advisors, an arm of MasterCard Worldwide (MA.N: Quote, Profile, Research).
In November, ex-auto retail sales climbed by a surprisingly
robust 0.8 percent.
SpendingPulse’s “core” gauge on retail sales fell 0.5
percent last month, the first negative reading since April. In
November, core retail sales increased 1.1 percent.
The core reading excludes autos, gasoline and building
materials, whose sales tend to be volatile month-to-month.
The SpendingPulse data are derived from the aggregate sales
in the MasterCard U.S. payment network, coupled with estimates
on all other payment methods including cash and check.
(Reporting by Richard Leong; Editing by Theodore d’Afflisio)
