US consumers kicked off a strong start to the holiday shopping season, according to the latest data from the Commerce Department, giving retail sales a boost despite negative expectations.

Retail sales increased 0.3% in November, beating Dow Jones' projections of a slight decrease of 0.1%. That's good news for retailers heading into the home stretch of 2023 with Christmas shopping fueling further activity.

Consumer spending remains strong heading into the holidays, with the exception of a few items. Excluding automobile and gas purchases, retail sales soared by 0.6%. Excluding auto purchases, the figure was 0.2.

"The rebound in retail sales in November provides further illustration that the continued rapid decline in inflation is not coming at the cost of significantly weaker economic growth," said Andrew Hunter, deputy chief U.S. economist at Capital Economics, told CNBC.

The data further supports the Federal Reserve's likely decision to pause interest rate hikes when the Fed's meeting concludes this week.

Retail sales