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...