The holiday season extended into January for many retailers, as consumers flooded the stores with gift cards in-hand ready to take advantage of clearance sales.
According to retail sales results released by the U.S. Commerce Department, retail industry sales for January excluding automobiles, gas stations, and restaurants increased 7.6% over last year and rose 2.0% seasonally adjusted over December.
For the sporting goods, hobby, book, and music stores category, sales increased 1.5% seasonally adjusted to $7,013 million from $6,912 million during December. Adjusted sales for January rose 6.3% over $6,597 million during January last year.
