U.S. Retail Sales Jump as Inflation Surges

U.S. shoppers spent more at the start of the year as the Omicron wave of Covid-19 started to recede and consumers absorbed a four-decade increase in prices.

Retail sales, a measure of spending at stores, online and in restaurants, rose by a seasonally adjusted 3.8% in January from the prior month, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.

That marked the strongest monthly gain in retail spending since last March, when pandemic-related stimulus was being distributed to households. The jump added to signs that the U.S. economy started 2022 with plentiful jobs, sizable wage gains and consumers with cash to spend—despite surging inflation. Employers added jobs at a rapid pace in January, and the unemployment rate was 4%. Layoffs also remained low in the nation’s tight labor market.