US retail sales rise 3% in 2024

US retail sales continued their growth year-on-year and month-on-month in December to deliver a positive performance for 2024, thus signaling consumer spending momentum despite inflation and rising borrowing costs.

US retail sales grew 3% YoY in 2024, to about $8.5 trillion, official data showed on Thursday.

The data also showed that retail sales grew 3.9% YoY in December, after a 4.1% growth in November reading.

On a monthly basis, sales rose 0.4%, compared to a 0.8% in November, showing a slowdown in consumer spending momentum in the final month of the year.

Retail sales account for about a third of the US total consumer spending.