[Stay on top of transportation news: .]
September Retail Sales Rise 0.6%
Retail sales rose 0.6% in September, the third straight increase, the Commerce Department said Friday.
The gain followed a revised 0.7% gain in August larger than the 0.4% increase originally reported.
The upturn topped economists’ forecasts of a 0.4% increase, Bloomberg reported.
Excluding automobiles, sales rose 0.4%. Sales at car dealers rose 1.6%.
Demand at non-store merchants, including Internet retailers, rose 1%. Sales gained 1.5% at electronics and appliance stores, the most since February.
Almost all trucking operations depend on the health of retail sales because such sales involve nearly every type of cargo.
