December Retail Sales Climb 7.9% versus 2009

The wallets are opening.

Retail sales in December 2010 rose 0.6 percent from the prior month and 7.9 percent from the prior year, to $380.9 billion.  For 2010 overall, retail sales grew 6.6 percent after falling 6.5 percent in 2009.  Excluding automobiles, retail sales in December 2010 rose 0.5 percent from November and increased 6.7 percent from December 2009.  For 2010 overall, retail sales excluding automobiles grew 5.9 percent after falling 5.2 percent in 2009.