U.S. retailers started 1993 on an upswing, posting modest sales gains for January as consumers kept up their buying beyond the holidays, the government reports.
In a separate report, the number of Americans filing new weekly claims for regular jobless insurance benefits tumbled, officials said.Retail sales climbed 0.3 percent in January, owing much of their moderate strength to auto buying. The rise, while much smaller than end-of-1992 gains, suggested buying by Americans will ascend during the new year, analysts said.
"The pace of consumer spending in the fourth quarter of 1992 was so strong, it had to diminish in the first quarter," said Allen Sinai, the chief economist for the Boston Co. "Retail spending will keep on rising most of this year."
In its report on retail sales, the Comnmerce Department revised down its large December increase of 1.2 percent to 0.8 percent.
Retail sales have increased six times in the past seven months, including 2.1 percent in October. In all of 1992, sales rose 5.1 percent - the biggest annual increase in three years, the Commerce Department said.
Retail sales are divided into two major sectors: durable goods and non-durable goods. Durable goods are expensive products designed to last at least three years, and sales rose 1.1 percent in January, after climbing 1.2 percent the month prior.
"That is a clear sign of the early stages of a bona fide recovery," Sinai said.
Automotive sales increased 1.1 percent in January after going up 0.5 percent. Excluding the auto sector, which tends to be volatile, overall retail sales rose only 0.1 percent in January.
Sales of non-durable goods dipped 0.1 percent in January after rising 0.6 percent.
In another report on the economy, the Labor Department said new claims for regular jobless insurance benefits fell by 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 340,000 for the week ending Jan. 30.
Regular benefits last 26 weeks. A person who cannot find a job in that time may be eligible to file emergency claims for insurance when regular benefits expire. Labor said 28,856 people filed new claims for emergency benefits in the final week of January, down from 32,318 the previous week.
Sinai called the overall decrease encouraging. "Some hiring is occurring," he observed.
"The decline, while not large, is impressive, and suggests the job market is getting better. I wouldn't say the job market is good, but it is getting better. This is not a robust job market, but it is slowly, grudgingly improving."
President Clinton is expected Wednesday to introduce a moderately sized fiscal package designed to stimulate the economy and create badly needed jobs. Sinai said the plan will carry a message of hope to the nation.
"Washington will not sit on its hands and let the bad times roll," he said.