U.S. retail sales posted their best showing in three months during November, according to figures released Thursday by the U.S. Commerce Department.

The 0.4% rise follows an upwardly revised 0.1% increase during October and was better than many analysts were expecting.
The largest gains were for furniture (+2.3%) and building materials (+1.3%) following the summer housing and mortgage refinancing boom. Food and the electronics and appliances categories were both up 0.9% after several weak months. Auto sales were steady, although unit sales of new vehicles were previously reported to be up over 5% while sales at department stores fell by 1.4%.
"A similar 0.3-0.5% gain is widely expected for December," said Newport Communications Senior Economist Jim Haughey. "This will bring the fourth quarter total almost up to the strong third quarter sales total, excluding autos, which are having an average quarter after a very strong third quarter."
Haughey looks for auto sales to rise again in the winter because dealer inventories are again high and rebates are also rising again.
"November's 0.4% sales increase is an underestimate of the gain in van freight, because sales at gas stations and auto dealers -- one-third of retail sales -- were practically unchanged," he said.