(CN) — Americans were willing to spend this holiday season, resulting in solid sales gains in December for traditional and online retailers, the Commerce Department reported Friday.
Government statisticians said retail sales rose 0.4 percent in December, following a 0.9 percent surge in November.
They also said that overall, retail sales rose 4.2 percent in 2017, the most in three years.
Online retailers reported a strong sales gain of 1.2 percent, a number matched by sales home and garden stores. Sales in restaurants and bars rose 0.7 percent, while department and general merchandise stores saw a more modest rise of 0.1 percent.
But there was also some bad news in Friday's report, which showed sales fell 1.6 percent at sporting goods stores and 0.3 percent at clothing stores.
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