US retail sales likely rose in December: Economy Preview

Sales at US retailers probably rose in December as Americans bought discounted holiday items, a sign the economy picked up heading into 2012, economists said before a report this week, reports Bloomberg from Washington .

The projected 0.3% gain in purchases would follow a 0.2% advance in November, according to the median forecast of 56 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News ahead of Commerce Department figures on January 12. Other data may show consumer confidence rose this month.

Retailers like Macy's Inc spurred demand by cutting prices and extending hours to ensure consumers, strapped by falling home prices and stagnant wages, shopped for holiday gifts. A report last week showed unemployment fell to an almost three-year low and hiring accelerated, indicating an improving job market will give workers the means to sustain purchases.

"There is a little more momentum," said Michael Gregory, a senior economist at BMO Capital Markets in Toronto. "We're ending the year in a more positive frame of mind."

An improving labor market helped make for a brighter holiday shopping season. Retail sales at stores open more than a year may have gained as much as 4.5% in December, more than previously estimated, as shoppers pursued discounts, the International Council of Shopping Centers said in a statement last week.

Americans also turned to the Internet for their shopping needs. Online retail purchases rose to a record $37.2 billion in November and December, a 15% increase from 2010, Reston, Virginia-based, ComScore Inc. said in a statement January 4.

Meantime, auto purchases have improved. Car and light truck sales in the US advanced in December at a 13.5 million annual rate after November's 13.6 million, the best two months since May-June 2008, according to researcher Autodata Corp. Sales averaged 16.4 million in the two years before the recession began in December 2007. Ford Motor Co., the second-largest US carmaker, posted a 10% gain in sales last month from a year earlier, and closed out 2011 with 2.15 million light vehicles purchased, an 11% gain.