Consumers keep foot on growth pedal

U.S. retail-sales figures on Friday signaled consumer spending, the biggest part of the economy, is poised to drive another quarter of strong growth while other segments face headwinds.

The value of overall sales rose 0.2 percent in November, topping forecasts, after an upward revision to the previous month, Commerce Department data showed.

The so-called control group subset, which some analysts use to gauge underlying consumer demand, climbed 0.9 percent, the most in a year and more than double projections.

Americans took advantage of lower fuel prices and Black Friday sales that kicked off the holiday-shopping season last month, setting up household consumption for a stronger-than-expected quarterly increase following what were already the best back-to-back gains in four years.

That will help overcome less upside from another part of the economy - manufacturing output stagnated in November following a drop.

'It unquestionably points to a consumer that continues to be upbeat and happy to spend money,” said Ward McCarthy, chief financial economist for Jefferies.

Consumption in the fourth quarter will 'again be very strong and a source of growth,” he said. 'Once we move past this, we're not going to see consumer spending quite as strong, but consumer fundamentals are really good.”

Factory output was unchanged last month while the previous month's reading was revised to a decline from a gain, Federal Reserve data showed Friday.

Amazon.com, the biggest U.S. online retailer, said Cyber Monday last month - following the Nov. 22 Thanksgiving holiday - was again the biggest shopping day in company history. Consumers spent a record $7.9 billion this year, jumping 19 percent from the year before, according to Adobe Analytics, which measures 80 of the top 100 U.S. online stores.