Retail sales surged toward the end of summer. The U.S. economy has plenty of momentum.

Retail sales rose sharply in August, marking the largest increase in five months, according to the latest data. The broad-based gain suggests consumers continued to spend at a healthy pace even as the summer wound down, offering fresh evidence that the U.S. economy carried momentum into the fall.

For markets, the significance lies less in any single month's figure than in what it signals about the durability of consumer demand. Household spending is the largest driver of U.S. economic growth, so a strong reading can support expectations that overall activity remains resilient. That, in turn, can influence how investors think about corporate earnings prospects and the path of interest rates.

What to watch from here: whether the August strength persists in coming months or reflects a one-time boost, and how the data feed into the Federal Reserve's assessment of the economy. A single report rarely settles the outlook, but it adds to the accumulating evidence policymakers and investors weigh when judging where growth is headed.