January Retail Sales Soar 2.3% in Fifth Straight Gain

February 14, 2006 11:00 AM, EST

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etail sales in January jumped by 2.3%, the biggest gain since May 2004, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday.

etail sales rose to $365.4 billion, and gained 2.2% excluding automobiles, Commerce said.

The rise was the fifth straight and was more than double economists’ estimates of a 0.9% gain, Bloomberg reported.

Almost all trucking operations depend on the health of retail sales because such sales involve nearly every type of cargo.

The warmest January in a century helped spur sales of building materials, furniture and apparel, Bloomberg reported.