Retail sales rise

After a six-month slump, retail sales rose for the first time in January, according to a Department of Commerce report released today. Monthly retail sales rose 1% from December 2008, but were down 9.7% from January 2008. Gasoline sales were down 35.5% from January 2008 and motor vehicle and parts dealers sales were down 22.2%. The rise in retail sales comes as jobless claims continue to rise since the recession began in December 2007. Payroll employment has declined by 3.6 million since the start of the recession with about half of the losses occurring in the past three months. In January, job losses were still large and widespread across all major industry sectors, according to the Commerce Department report. The nation's unemployment rate in January rose to 7.6%, from 7.2%.