Retail Sales Edge Higher than Economic Forecasts

Retail trade sales rose 0.4 percent in December, the ""Department of Commerce"":http://www2.census.gov/retail/releases/historical/marts/adv1212.pdf reported Tuesday. The increase was twice the rate economists anticipated.

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Total retail activity - including restaurants - rose 0.5 percent, up from the 0.4 percent growth seen in November.

Retail trade activity for the month rose 4.4 percent versus December 2011, but during the same period one year prior, retailers saw a 6.8 percent year-over-year boost in sales.

Auto sales, which jumped 1.6 percent, accounted for most of the increase observed in December. Excluding auto sales, total retail activity was up just 0.26 percent in the month, reversing a 0.13 percent drop in November.

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Sales at furniture stores - an indicator of housing activity - rose 1.4 percent after increasing 1 percent in November. The back-to-back gains followed three straight months of declines, and year-over-year sales at furniture stores were up. 5.8 percent.

Sales at building material and garden supply stores rose .03 percent, essentially flat after rising 0.8 percent in November. Those stores have yet to feel an bounce from rebuilding efforts in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. Year-over-year sales at building material stores rose a scant 0.9 percent.

Food stores accounted for 11.3 percent of the boost in total sales, but restaurant sales which rose 1.2 percent month-to-month represented 25.7 percent of retail growth.

Department store sales rose 0.3 percent after falling 0.7 percent in November, and in December 2012, department store sales were almost 2 percent lower than figures seen during the same month in 2011.

Sales at non-store retailers - which include mail order and online - rose 0.5 percent in December and were up 12.6 percent year-over-year, the tenth time in the last 11 months those sales have registered double-digit year-over-year gains.

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