Consumers continued to open up their wallets last month as retail sales increased 1.3%, following a 14% increase in October, the Commerce Department reported today.
November's figures were 1.9% higher than those of November 2008. From September through November, sales were 2.1% less than a year ago.
Total retail and food sales in November were $352 billion, compared with 347.5 billion in October.
November's numbers showed a 1.2% increase in non-automobile sales from October, but that number represented a 1.3% increase from November 2008.
There was a 1.6% increase in automobiles and automobile parts sales from October, and a 5.1% increase from November 2008.
Most types of stores had slight increases in sales, except: furniture, clothing and miscellaneous stores.
