Consumers grew cautious ahead of the holiday spending season. Total retail sales & spending at restaurants nudged 0.1% higher (3.8% y/y) during November following a 0.6% October rise, revised from 0.8%. A 0.4% increase had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Three-month sales growth eased to 1.2%, its slowest pace since May.

A 0.5% decline (+3.3% y/y) in purchases of motor vehicles &  parts held back last month's overall spending increase. The decline roughly matched a 0.8% drop in unit sales of light vehicles. Excluding autos, overall retail sales improved 0.2% (3.9% y/y) after a 0.6% gain. That was the weakest rise in three months. A 0.5% increase had been expected. 

Retail sales eased slightly last month (+3.6% y/y) after a 0.7% rise. Discretionary spending growth slowed markedly. Purchases at nonstore retailers improved a minimal 0.1% (11.9% y/y) following a strong 1.4% increase. Also weakening were sales at sporting goods, hobby, book & music stores which fell 1.0% (-1.4% y/y) following a 0.7% rise. Building materials & garden equipment store sales increased 0.3% (4.3% y/y) for a second straight month. Gasoline service station sales also improved 0.3% (4.0% y/y) following two months of strong gains with higher prices. To the upside were restaurant sales. Sales at food service & drinking places rose 0.8% (4.9% y/y), a rebound after a 0.3% decline.

Sales in the retail control group, which measures nonauto sales less gasoline & building materials, inched 0.1% higher (3.4% y/y), the weakest gain in three months. Three-month growth improved, however, to 4.1%, the strongest rise since Q2. Sales of furniture & home furnishings gained 0.7% (4.1% y/y) after a 0.5 decline, while sales at electronics & appliance stores ticked 0.1% higher (-3.8% y/y) following five consecutive monthly declines. Clothing & accessory store sales remained unchanged (0.9% y/y) after a 0.1% uptick. Sales of general merchandise stores gained 0.1% (-1.3% y/y) after six consecutive monthly declines. 

In the non-discretionary spending categories, food & beverage store sales increased 0.4% (3.1% y/y) following a 0.7% increase. Purchases at health & personal care stores ticked 0.1% higher (6.2% y/y) following no change.

The retail sales data can be found in Haver's USECON database.