The government said retail sales rose a better-than-expected 0.4% last month, and climbed 0.5% after excluding auto sales, home improvement supplies and a drop gasoline sales driven by lower prices, FT Advisors economist Brian Wesbury said. Combined with the Nov. 8 report that employers added 204,000 jobs in October, it bolsters the case that the impact of the shutdown may be less severe than first feared.