Sales at automobile dealers rose 1 percent in December after increasing 0.7 percent in the previous month. Industry reports previously showed unit sales rose 0.6 percent in December and fell 5.1 percent in January.
A separate report Thursday from the Labor Department showed filings for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week, a sign of potential residual effects of the shutdown. In addition, producer price inflation cooled in January, according to a Labor Department report.
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Estimates in the Bloomberg survey for retail sales ranged from a 0.2 percent drop to a 1.2 percent gain. Receipts at health and personal care stores fell 2 percent, the most since October 2016. Sales at sporting goods, hobby, musical instrument and book stores tumbled 4.9 percent, the biggest drop since September 2008. The release of January retail-sales figures -- originally scheduled for Friday -- has been postponed by the shutdown and is yet to be rescheduled.
Despite the closure, processing and data quality were monitored during the closure and response rates for the December survey were at or above normal, the Commerce Department said. The retail-sales data capture just under half of all household purchases and can be volatile on a monthly basis.
This article provided by Bloomberg News.