Retail sales rose by the most in more than a year last month, gaining 1.4%, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.
The gain was the biggest since January of last year and was double analysts’ forecasts, Bloomberg reported. April sales rose a revised 0.1%.
Sales excluding automobiles rose 1.3%, Commerce said. Service-station sales jumped 3.8% as fuel prices rose.
Almost all trucking operations depend on the health of retail sales because such sales involve nearly every type of cargo.
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