Retail sales in the USA continued to show solid growth in December, at a faster-than-expected pace, reinforcing the scenario of still robust economic growth at the end of 2023.

The Commerce Department announced on Wednesday that retail sales rose by 0.6% last month, whereas economists were only expecting a 0.4% increase.

The November statistic was confirmed to show an already significant increase of 0.3%.

On a year-on-year basis, December's rise was 5.6%.

In detail, retail sales were buoyed month-on-month by purchases of automobiles (+1.1%), clothing and accessories (+1.5%), but also by those made in department stores (+3%) over the Christmas period.

Excluding automobiles and fuels, retail sales rose by a further 0.7%, as in November.

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