Daily News
From Home Furnishing Business
November Retail Sales Inch Up
December 12,
2014 by in Economic News, Furniture Retailing, Industry 
Holiday shoppers took advantage of deep discounting and early sales to lift retail spending in November.
Excluding automobiles, gasoline stations and restaurants, retail sales increased 0.6 percent seasonally-adjusted over October and 3.2 percent over last November.
Furniture posted a 0.5 percent month-to-month increase, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.
“As we’ve said all along, retailers are optimistic that they will see healthy holiday sales gains this year,” said Matthew Shay, president and CEO of the National Retail Federation. “November sales results confirm that optimism, and we are steadfast in our belief that we are on track to reach the 4.1 percent growth in holiday sales that NRF forecasted in October.”
The sales were buoyed by increasing wages and lower gas prices, said Jack Kleinhenz, NRF’s chief economist.
“Every economic indicator is pointing toward a strong holiday season,” he said. “Healthy November sales should provide momentum for an even stronger December as customers continue to seek out deals all the way to Christmas.”