WASHINGTON — U.S. retail sales rose at a modest pace in November as the holiday shopping season appeared to have a slow start.

The Commerce Department said Friday that retail sales increased a seasonally adjusted 0.2 percent in November, down from 0.4 percent in the previous month. Healthy car sales lifted the overall figure. Excluding autos, sales ticked up just 0.1 percent.

Steady job gains, a low unemployment rate and rising wages have lifted consumer confidence and economists expect this year's holiday shopping season to be a healthy one.

But with Thanksgiving falling later in November there were fewer shopping days after Black Friday. Parts of the Midwest were also hit last month with snow and cold weather, which may have discouraged some spending.

Still, there were signs of consumer health. October's retail sales were revised higher, to a gain of 0.4 percent, up from 0.3 percent. In the past year, retail sales have increased 3.3 percent.

Auto sales rose 0.5 percent in November, possibly buoyed by lower interest rates on many auto loans. Sales at electronics and appliance stores rose 0.7 percent, the most since July. Gas station sales also picked up 0.7 percent, though that can reflect higher prices at the pump. The retail sales figures aren't adjusted for price changes. Sales plunged 1.1 percent at health and personal care stores, the most in nearly a year, and dropped 0.6 percent at clothing outlets. General merchandise stores, which include large chains such as Target, eked out a 0.1 percent gain.

NEW YORK — T-Mobile CEO John Legere said if his company's $26.5 billion deal to buy Sprint fails, it may have to raise prices to slow user growth and relieve stress on the T-Mobile network. He said that would be his “worst nightmare.”Legere's testimony came on the fourth day of a high-profile antitrust trial. Fourteen state attorneys general are suing to block the combination of T-Mobile and Sprint. They say the deal would cost consumers billions.The trial with the states is a major hurdle for T-Mobile, but federal regulators have already cleared the merger. The Justice Department approved it after T-Mobile and Sprint agreed to set up satellite TV provider Dish as a new wireless competitor. The states say that's not enough.A lawyer for the states, Glenn Pomerantz, laid out evidence that T-Mobile had options beyond acquiring Sprint that would let it obtain more spectrum, the airwaves that signals travel over and the lifeblood of a wireless network. Adding spectrum would shore up the network from the strain of its growing user base watching Netflix and uploading videos to Instagram.By Associated Press