Retail sales, a measure of spending at restaurants, stores and online last month, rose 0.7% to $618.7 billion, according to the Commerce Department. Analysts polled by Refinitiv had expected a 0.8% decline. The reading was 15,1% above year-ago levels.
The print was revised to 1.7% decline from a drop of 1.8% in last month.
Clothing and accessories sales rose 3.3% month over month and were 38.3% above year-ago levels. Gasoline sales increased by 1.6% compared to July.
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