Retail Sales Excluding Autos Rose in January

U.S. sales at retailers excluding auto dealers rose more in January than any month in almost two years, a sign shoppers may help pull the economy out of recession.

“Consumer spending is holding up well, maybe surprisingly well,” said Jack Guynn, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. “The consumer is terribly important to what happens over the next several quarters.”

Sales of items other than cars and trucks rose 1.2% last month after a 0.7% increase in December, the Commerce Department said. January’s gain was three times larger than analysts expected and the biggest since March 2000, four months before manufacturing fell into a slump.

Consumers, whose spending accounts for two-thirds of the economy, bought building materials, furniture, clothing and items from discounters such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc., bringing the January level of retail sales excluding autos to a record $223 billion. Combined with a record $120.6-billion annual rate of decline in fourth-quarter inventories, the sales increase suggests factories will have to boost production to keep up with demand.

Including cars, sales fell 0.2% in January, erasing December’s increase. Car sales have fallen since setting a record in October.

Sales at general merchandise outlets that include department stores increased 2.1% after rising 1% in December. Wal-Mart and Target Corp. were among retailers that reported increased sales last month as consumers flocked to discounters. Sales rose 2.9% for building materials, 2.5% for clothes and 0.8% for the category that covers sporting goods, books and music. Furniture sales increased 0.4% in January after rising 1% in December.

Higher gasoline prices pushed up the value of sales at gasoline service stations by 5.1% last month. The average price of gasoline at the pump crept up to $1.15 a gallon in January from a two-year low of $1.10 a gallon in December.