U.S. retail sales rose at the slowest pace in seven months in December, and initial claims for jobless benefits moved sharply higher last week due to seasonal factors, the government said Thursday in two reports indicating the economic recovery remains uneven despite an acceleration of growth. Total retail sales increased 0.1 percent last month to $400.6 billion after rising by 0.4 percent in November, the Commerce Department said. Despite the weak gain, it was the first time retail sales had topped $400 billion. For all of 2011, retail sales totaled a record $4.7 trillion, a gain of almost 8 percent over 2010. It was the largest percentage increase since 1999. Steady sales gains have fueled a 20 percent surge from the low seen during the 2007-2009 recession, and the figures confirm evidence that the economy was strengthening as 2011 ended. Meanwhile, applications for weekly unemployment benefits spiked last week, largely because companies fired thousands of workers after the holiday season, the Labor Department reported. Jobless claims rose by 24,000 last week to 399,000, the highest level in six weeks. However the spike followed three months of steady declines that brought claims to their lowest level in more than three years. Weekly jobless claims have been below 400,000 in nine of the past 10 weeks. Economists say jobless claims must consistently remain below 375,000 to signal that hiring is strong enough to lower the unemployment rate. Before last week's jump, claims had been below 375,000 for three of the past four weeks.
