October Retail Sales Climb 1.5%; 7th Straight Increase : Economy: The rise is 50% higher than expected. Economists say fourth quarter could be year’s strongest.

Sales surged at auto dealerships, department stores and building supply centers in October, heralding a busy Christmas shopping season and a strong year-end finish for the economy.

Retail receipts overall jumped 1.5% to a seasonally adjusted $177.3 billion, the Commerce Department said Friday. It was the biggest increase in six months and the seventh in a row.

Commerce Secretary Ronald H. Brown hailed the report as “a clear signal that our economy is improving.” Many private economists concurred. They are predicting the October-December quarter will be the year’s strongest.

“This whole report was evidence the consumer has not died and gone away and is out there and willing to spend money,” said economist Paul Lally of R.H. Wrightson & Associates in New York. “It’s a good sign for the fourth quarter.”

Analysts watch retail receipts closely because they account for roughly a third of all economic activity. They are now predicting the economy’s growth rate in the final three months of the year will accelerate to as much as 4% after a dismal first half averaging 1.4% and a somewhat better 2.8% in the third quarter.

“This is an upswing we’re likely to see carry us through Christmas,” said economist Richard Berner of Mellon Bank in Pittsburgh. “I think retailers will view this with some joy.”

In October, economists had expected a strong retail sales report, about a 1% gain, but the actual figure was 50% above that.

Sales had edged 0.1% higher in September and had risen 0.7% in August.

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Economists said at least four factors are propelling buying: modestly improved job growth in recent months; continued refinancing of mortgages, which reduces homeowners’ monthly payments; low interest rates, which reduce the financing cost for big-ticket items such as cars, and pent-up demand for many goods.

Auto sales surged 3.6% last month, the strongest in a year, after a 1.7% decline in September. But even excluding the sometimes volatile auto sector, sales advanced a strong 0.9% following a 0.6% increase in September.

Sales jumped 3.5% at building supply, hardware and garden supply stores. They rose 1.1% at department stores and other general merchandisers, better than the 0.9% increase in September.

Sales soared 2.9% at gasoline stations, the biggest increase in eight months. But a large part of that was a 4.3-cent-a-gallon increase in the federal excise tax on gasoline, which took effect Oct. 1.

Overall, sales in the August-September period were 6.4% higher than in the same period a year earlier.