U.S. Retail Sales Jump More Than Expected In March

(RTTNews) - The Commerce Department released a report on Tuesday showing retail sales in the U.S. surged by more than expected in the month of March.

The report said retail sales shot up by 1.7 percent in March after climbing by an upwardly revised 0.7 percent in February.

Economists had expected retail sales to jump by 1.4 percent compared to the 0.6 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.

Excluding sales by motor vehicle and parts dealers, retail sales surged by 1.9 percent in March after growing by 0.7 percent in February. Ex-auto sales were expected to leap by 1.3 percent.