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Retail sales surge in January

Consumers flocked to auto dealerships while gift card redemptions fired up sales at chain stores.

February 14, 2006: 8:35 AM EST


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Strong auto sales combined with holiday gift card redemptions resulted in much stronger-than-expected January retail sales in the critical post-holiday month.

The Commerce Department said retail sales rose 2.3 percent, trumping analysts' expectations, versus a 0.7 percent gain the previous month.

Excluding volatile automobile sales, retail sales also blew past forecasts, rising a robust 2.2 percent from a much weaker 0.2 percent in December.

Economists, on average, expected sales to rise 0.9 percent and sales excluding autos to rise 0.8 percent, according to Briefing.com.