Consumers rushed to spend their stimulus checks in January, causing retail sales of the month to rise 5.3% in a big success starting in 2021, according to a government report on Wednesday.
Economists polled by Dow Jones had expected an increase of just 1.2%.
Excluding automobiles, sales grew 5.9%, also well above the 1% estimate, in a display of unexpected consumer strength.
A month after Congress approved an additional $ 900 billion stimulus package in addition to the $ 2.2 trillion approved in early 2020, customers were armed with $ 600 checks they used to buy a variety of products.
The jump in consumer spending came at a time when growth expectations in early 2021 were silenced, as the economy continued to get rid of the pandemic-induced slowdown.
Spending gains were broad, with all major categories showing increases.
Electronics and home appliances saw the biggest increase, up 14.7% in the month, while furniture and home furnishings rose 12% and online spending in non-stores increased 11%. Even the food and drink outlets, which suffered the most during the pandemic, saw an increase of 6.9%.
While most economists see the year getting off to a slow start, they expect the pace to pick up later in the year as vaccination efforts spread and the Covid-19 albatross disappears.
One of the main concerns for the recovery has become inflation, and a separate data point has shown that these pressures continue to increase.
The producer price index, which measures the prices that national producers receive for their products, increased 1.3%, the biggest monthly gain since the beginning of the measure, in December 2009.
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