Retail sales for September increased 0.6 per cent month on month – double the forecast by economists and in contrast with dismal September sales performance reported by a slew of retailers last week.
After stripping out robust vehicle sales, which offset weak demand for clothing because of unseasonable weather, sales rose 0.4 per cent.
The average temperature across the eastern two thirds of the US was 2°c to 6°c warmer than normal in September, making it the eighth warmest since 1895, according to weather tracker Planalytics.
Fashion giant Gap said September like-for-like sales fell 7 per cent, worse than the 4.4 per cent decline expected by analysts. Like-for-likes at American Eagle Outfitters fell 2 per cent and the retailer cut its quarterly profit outlook.
Like-for-like sales at Macy’s dropped 2.7 per cent and JC Penney reported a 4.6 per cent like-for-like slump.
Non-clothing retailers were not unscathed. Wal-Mart reported like-for-likes up 1.4 per cent for September – at the low end of expectations – while Target said its full-year performance would be below expectations after sluggish like-for-likes up 1.2 per cent.
Last month, the US National Retail Federation forecast sales would rise just 4 per cent in November and December, which would make it the worst performance for five years.
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