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US Retail Sales Broadly Advance, Capping a Solid Holiday Season
US retail sales broadly advanced in December, indicating strong consumer demand to wrap up the holiday season. The value of retail purchases, not adjusted for inflation, increased 0.4% after an upwardly revised 0.8% gain in November, Commerce Department data showed Thursday. Excluding autos and gasoline, sales climbed 0.3%. The retail data showed so-called control-group sales — which feed into the government’s calculation of goods spending for gross domestic product — increased 0.7% in December, the most in three months. The measure excludes food services, auto dealers, building materials stores and gasoline ... (full story)