Nov. Retail Sales Rise 0.4%; Ex-Auto Up 0.5%

Sales at U.S. retailers rose 0.4% in November, the largest move in three months as sales of furniture, food and electronics all increased, a government report showed Thursday.

Retail sales are a closely watched sector for trucking, which delivers large amounts of goods from factories and warehouses to retail outlets.

The numbers look even better, up 0.5%, if sales of automobiles are excluded, the Commerce Department said.

The increase pushed retail sales up to $302.5 billion for the eleventh month of the year and followed a revised 0.1% increase in October. Excluding auto sales, sales rose a revised 0.8% during the previous month, Commerce said.

Analysts said that consumer spending is still helping to sustain the economy recovery, Bloomberg reported.

In another Thursday report, the government said that initial jobless claims rose 83,000 to 441,000 last week.

The Labor Department reported that the total of first-time claims was the high it's been since the week ended April 13 when claims totaled 452,000.

The four-week moving average for initial claims rose 10,000 to 387,250, Labor reported.