U.S. retail sales in January jumped 3 percent, blowing past the Dow Jones estimate of 1.9 percent. 

<div class="block">U.S. retail sales in January jumped 3 percent, blowing past the Dow Jones estimate of 1.9 percent, according to Commerce Department data.&nbsp;</div><div class="block">Here's a quick breakdown:&nbsp;</div><div class="list"><ul><li>Excluding automobiles, retail trade sales increased 2.3 percent from December and 3.9 percent from the year before.</li><li>Food services and drink sales skyrocketed 25.2 percent from the year before&nbsp;</li><li>General merchandise sales were up 4.5 percent from the year before&nbsp;</li></ul></div><div class="block">In December, sales had fallen 1.1 percent, making for a disappointing holiday season. Sales totaled $697 billion in January, compared to $677 billion in December. </div>

Retail Sales Blew Past Wall Street Estimates in January

Well the economy and the stock market starting the year. Strong retail sales in January, jumping 3% in the biggest monthly gain that we've seen in nearly two years. Well, consumers pulling back around the holidays, but perhaps some extra Christmas cash allowed them to ramp up spending at stores and restaurants last month, Sales for food and drinking services popping 7.2%. Car sales and parts dealers rising 5.9% while home furnishing stores saw a gain of 4.4%, notably no categories witnessing a decline after retail sales did fall 1.1% in December. So this data, of course, adding to the surprisingly strong job support last month showing that the economy added 517,000 new roles as well as the inflation report yesterday, showing consumer prices did jump half of a percent from December of last year to January of this year. Now, all of this means that the Fed still has its work cut out for it when it comes to raising borrowing costs in an attempt to curb demand and lower inflation. Thus could impact the stock market