(Adds details of retail sales data, election context)
SAO PAULO, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Retail sales in Brazil rose for the third straight month in October, as electioneering at the end of a presidential campaign provided temporary work and extra income that families spent at supermarkets and department stores.
Sales volumes rose 1.0 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis in October from September, government statistics agency IBGE said on Friday, double the median estimate in a Reuters poll.
Retail activity grew 1.8 percent from a year earlier, the most since May, before a brief recession weakened job growth and put Brazilian shoppers on the defensive.
Leading indicators suggest the retail recovery may be short lived, as consumer confidence fell to a six-year low in November and retailers are forecasting the weakest Christmas sales bump in a decade.
Household spending, which represents nearly two-thirds of economic activity in Brazil, has already dropped in each of the first three quarters of the year, contributing to a sharp slowdown in Latin America's largest economy.
Relief came in October as Brazil's most expensive political campaign on record gave a slim reelection victory to President Dilma Rousseff and provided a burst of short-term employment for pamphleteers, flag wavers and other campaign staff.
Extra discretionary income translated to a 1.2 percent rise in supermarket sales and 2.0 percent growth of clothing sales. Sales of communications and office materials rose 3.5 percent.
(Reporting by Brad Haynes; Additional reporting by Rodrigo Viga Gaier, Felipe Pontes and Asher Levine in Rio de Janeiro; Editing by Alden Bentley)