Retail sales rose 0.6pc from the previous month, when sales increased 0.5pc.

Building activity rose 1.2 percent in July from the previous month, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $401 billion.

Overall spending rose an inflation-adjusted 0.2 percent in June from the month before and 3.1 percent over a year earlier.

August redemptions rose 18 percent from the previous month to $11.1 billion.

Over all, industry sales rose 2.3 percent in January, traditionally the industry's weakest month, from the month a year earlier.

The median price of new houses rose to $238,100 in January, a 6.7 percent gain from the month a year ago.

The number of jobless people rose by 2,000 from the month before to 4.1 million.

It's overall sales rose 12.4 percent, to $2.17 billion, from the month a year earlier.

It was the third consecutive month in which the indicator rose from the previous month.

The same statistics showed that homicides rose 24.3 percent in September from the same month a year ago, the police said.