U.S. retail sales raise less than expected in December

U.S. retail sales rose less than expected in December, pointing to a weaker economic growth in the final quarter of 2016, the Commerce Department reported Friday.

Retail sales edged up 0.6 percent from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted 469.1 billion U.S. dollars in December, below economists' expectation of 0.7 percent, the Commerce Department said. Compared with a year earlier, total retail sales rose 4.1 percent last month.

Purchases of motor vehicle and parts rose 2.4 percent in December, and online retailers' sales climbed 1.2 percent. But department stores sales dropped 0.6 percent last month, and sales at bars and restaurants also fell 0.8 percent.

Excluding the volatile auto sales, total retail sales rose 0.2 percent last month, weaker than economists' expectation of 0.4 percent, the Commerce Department said.

As consumer spending was a major driver of U.S. economic growth, the weaker-than-expected retail sales report in December suggested a slowdown of the U.S. economy in the final quarter of 2016.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta estimated Friday that the U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of 2.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2016, lower than 3.5 percent in the previous quarter. The Commerce Department will release its advance estimate for U.S. gross domestic product in the fourth quarter of last year on Jan. 27. Enditem