After a 0.5 percent increase in October, consumers spent 0.3 percent less on manufactured goods in November amid a decline in energy outlays, although expenditures were unchanged over a year ago.

During November, spending on energy was down 2.0 percent compared with October, led by a 2.1 percent decrease in energy, water, and waste. The monthly decline was driven by a drop in the consumption of gas and electricity, as well as purchases of petroleum products.
At the same time, spending on food fell 0.2 percent month-on-month while dropping 1.3 percent year-on-year.

Spending on household durables jumped 1.9 percent month-on-month in November, while outlays for textiles and clothing rose 0.5 percent. Compared to year-ago levels, respective spending was up 6.0 percent and 1.1 percent.

Consumers lowered their spending on transportation goods by 0.7 percent month-on-month, corresponding to a 2.2 percent year-on-year decrease.

With consumers pulling back on spending, there's no sign this they will come to the rescue anytime soon for the overall economy.

Consumption of manufactured goods by consumers is an indicator of consumer spending for household durable goods such as autos and furniture. The data are released separately as part of the report on total goods spending.

This indicator is a measure of retail sales and is unique to France. It measures consumer spending for household durable goods such as autos and furniture. The data are seasonally and workday adjusted. These adjustments eliminate the fluctuations that are solely due to changes in the number of working days. The data appear to be particularly sensitive to the number of worked Saturdays. With consumer spending a large part of the economy, market players continually monitor spending patterns. Retail sales are a measure of consumer well-being.

The pattern in consumer spending is often the foremost influence on stock and bond markets. For stocks, strong economic growth translates to healthy corporate profits and higher stock prices. For bonds, the focus is whether economic growth goes overboard and leads to inflation. Ideally, the economy walks that fine line between strong growth and excessive (inflationary) growth.

Retail sales not only give you a sense of the big picture, but also the trends among different types of retailers. Perhaps auto sales are especially strong or apparel sales are showing exceptional weakness. These trends from the retail sales data can help you spot specific investment opportunities, without having to wait for a company's quarterly or annual report.