Retail sales up 7.3 percent in Spokane County at end of 2016

Shoppers in a holiday spending mood boosted taxable retail sales in the fourth quarter of 2016 across Washington, including the Spokane area.

Sales statewide were up 6.4 percent over the same period in 2015, reaching $38.2 billion, the Washington State Department of Revenue said Thursday.

The holiday spirit also contributed to a 5.9 percent bump in retail trade sales, which totaled $17.1 billion for the fourth quarter of 2016, the state said.

The bump was more pronounced in Spokane County, where taxable retail sales hit $2.42 billion in the fourth quarter, up 7.3 percent over the same quarter a year earlier.

In the city of Spokane, retail sales for the quarter were $1.27 billion, up 4.1 percent.