January Retail Sales Soar 2.3% in Fifth Straight Gain

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.

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