Industry data showed that U.S. car sales were subdued in November, economists said.
On Monday, the Commerce Department, using research from Wards Intelligence, reported sales at a 15.3 million unit rate in November. That’s below the consensus estimate of 15.5 million units.
It is down from 15.4 million in October. The highest rate of the year was 16.1 million in June.
An alternative measure from Autodata Corp. showed sales at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 15.5 million units in November, down slightly from 15.7 million rate in the prior month.
Will Compernolle, economist at FHN Financial, said sales were soft but within the range seen through 2023.
Compernolle said he didn’t think the November data was “that weak.”
“It’s not low enough to suggest a new down-trend. There’s no sign consumer spending is dropping off a cliff,” he said.
Michael Pearce, economist at Oxford Economics, said the latest auto sales data show that consumer spending has slowed from the third quarter.
The driver of the weakness is a combination of higher interest rates and tighter borrowing conditions, which is hitting buyer affordability, Pearce said.
“Until conditions begin to ease more markedly, vehicle sales will remain subdued,” he said.
Earlier this month, the New York Fed said that a record number of people applying for car loans got rejected this year.
Car spending makes up a huge part of U.S. consumer spending. The government will put out comprehensive November retail spending data in mid-December.
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