WASHINGTON (AP) -- Americans bought electronics and back-to-school clothes in September but held back on luxuries.
Data released Wednesday by MasterCard Advisors' SpendingPulse show careful spending, erratic weather and tepid economic news dampened sales last month. The figures include transactions in all forms including cash.
Clothing sales rose 3.8 percent, helped by stores offering back-to-school discounts. Electronics sales rose 4.7 percent. Footwear and jewelry each inched up 0.7 percent.
But luxury sales, excluding jewelry, fell 5.4 percent from last year's already weak totals. Luxury lost ground despite recovery in the stock market - the S&P 500 rose 9 percent during the month.
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