Retail Sales Gained in November

By JEFF BATER and LUCA DI LEO U.S. retail sales rose in November nearly twice as much as expected, making a broad-based increase that suggested consumers were buying aggressively and supporting the economy in the holiday shopping season. Retail sales rose 1.3% last month, the Commerce Department said Friday. Wall Street had predicted a 0.7% increase. October sales were revised down, to a 1.1% increase from a previously estimated 1.4% increase. Car purchases and rising gasoline prices played a part in the surprisingly strong November increase. Yet most other merchants had good gains, too. Spending by consumers during the traditionally busy shopping day after Thanksgiving was a little higher this year than last. Customers made a beeline for discounts; crowds at high-end stores were observed to be thinner. Online sales were strong, according to reports. Consumer spending makes up a large part of the economy. Rising stock market prices and home values in some places might help support spending. Data this week showed the net worth of Americans is rising, as people make some headway in their crawl out of the hole that the financial crisis put them into. The Federal Reserve on Thursday reported total net worth of households increased 5.0% in the July-to-September period, to $53.42 trillion from $50.76 trillion in the second quarter. U.S. sales of autos and parts rose 1.6% in November. Retail sales excluding autos climbed 1.2%; economists had forecast a 0.4% gain. October auto sales jumped 7.1%. Filling station sales in November climbed 6.0%, elevated by rising gas prices. Excluding sales of gasoline and cars, other retailers' sales increased 0.6% last month, the fourth consecutive gain. Health and personal care stores increased 0.3%. Restaurants and bars climbed 0.5%. Mail order and Internet retailers rose 1.2%. Housing-related categories were mixed, with furniture retailers down 0.7% and building material and garden supplies dealers surging 1.5%. Electronic and appliance store sales rose 2.8% as the holidays approached. It was the biggest gain since 7.9% in January 2009. Food and beverage stores increased 1.0%. Clothing stores fell by 0.7%. A recent report on chain-store sales in the U.S. said Macy's Inc. had a worse-than-expected 6% decline in November. The department store chain cited weakness in winter merchandise. General merchandise stores rose 0.8%. Sporting goods, hobby, book and music stores rose 0.3%. Import Prices Increase Prices of goods imported into the United States rose for the fourth month in a row in November, led by higher fuel prices, a sign the global economic recovery is causing prices to increase. U.S. import prices rose a monthly 1.7% in November, following an upwardly revised 0.8% increase in October, the Labor Department reported Friday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had expected a smaller 1.4% gain in import prices in November. The October increase in import prices was originally estimated to be 0.7%. Import prices rose 3.7% compared to November 2008, the first annual increase in more than a year. Despite the latest increases, a soft recovery in the U.S. suggests there are few inflation risks in the world's largest economy for now. The U.S. economy is recovering slowly from its worst recession since the Second World War, with unemployment expected to remain around 10% in the coming months. The Federal Reserve is next week expected to keep its benchmark interest rate at a record low, citing high unemployment and low inflation as one of the key factors for its forecast that rates will stay close to zero for an "extended period." The core inflation rate -- which strips out volatile food and energy prices and is closely watched by the Fed -- stood at an annual 1.4% in October compared with 1.3% in September. Friday's report showed that prices for import fuel jumped by 7.3% in November as natural gas prices surged by 30%. That followed an upwardly revised 2.5% rise in import fuel prices in October. Petroleum import prices, meanwhile, rose by 6.2% in November from October. Compared to November 2008, petroleum import prices jumped by 35.5%, the first annual increase in a year. Excluding petroleum, import prices climbed 0.7% in November, the largest increase since June 2008. Prices for non-fuel industrial supplies and materials imports rose 1.4% last month. Food prices increased 0.5%, following gains of 0.3% in October and 0.5% in September. Prices of goods from the European Union rose by 0.6% in November, while those from Canada were 2.9% higher, led by higher fuel prices. Meanwhile, U.S. export prices rose by 0.8% in November, with nonagricultural prices accounting for about two-thirds of the increase. Write to Jeff Bater at jeff.bater@dowjones.com and Luca Di Leo at luca.dileo@dowjones.com