Ahead of this afternoon's Federal Reserve announcement, the Commerce Department released a report on Wednesday showing an uptick in U.S. retail sales in the month of November.
The Commerce Department said retail sales inched up by 0.1 percent in November after climbing by 0.6 percent in October. Economists had expected sales to rise by 0.4 percent.
The uptick in retail sales was partly due to notable increases in sales by food service and drinking places and furniture and home furnishing stores.
On the other hand, the report said sales by motor vehicle and parts dealers fell by 0.5 percent in November after rising by 0.5 percent in October.
Excluding the drop in auto sales, retail sales rose by 0.2 percent in November following a 0.6 percent increase in the previous month. Ex-auto sales had been expected to climb by 0.4 percent.
Compared to the same month a year ago, retail sales were up by 3.8 percent in November, reflecting a slowdown from the 4.2 percent growth seen in October.
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