NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Retail sales rose in the United States in November, the government said Thursday, as consumers bought furniture and hardware for the new homes they've been buying at a record pace.

The Commerce Department said retail sales rose 0.4 percent to $302.5 billion in November after rising a revised 0.1 percent in October. Excluding volatile automobile sales, "core" sales rose 0.5 percent after rising a revised 0.8 percent in October.

Economists, on average, expected sales to rise 0.4 percent and "core" sales to rise 0.2 percent, according to Briefing.com.

"Overall, the recent sales data appear to point to a renewed upturn in spending," Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics Ltd., said in a research note.

Separately, the Labor Department said new claims for unemployment benefits rocketed to 441,000 in the week ended Dec. 7 from a revised 358,000 the prior week. Economists, on average, expected just 378,000 new claims, Briefing.com said.

The reports seemed to confuse U.S. stock prices, which were mixed in early trading. Treasury bond prices fell.

Consumer spending is closely watched by economists because it makes up more than two-thirds of total U.S. gross domestic product (GDP), the broadest measure of economic activity.

Helped along by 12 Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts in 2001 and 2002, along with a wave of mortgage refinancing that put more cash in homeowners' pockets, consumer spending has stayed strong -- despite a recession that began in March 2001, terrorist attacks, falling stock prices, more than 1.8 million job cuts, corporate malfeasance and worries about a war in Iraq.

But businesses -- who have found themselves unable to raise prices in a weak economic environment and are squeezing costs as a result -- have been reluctant to increase their spending or hire more workers.

As long as the job market remains weak -- unemployment jumped to 6 percent in November, matching an eight-year high -- consumers might be less and less inclined to spend, especially if they're worried about their job security in the face of all the debt they've accumulated.

To lure people into showrooms and stores, automakers and retailers have relied on aggressive incentives. Automakers have offered zero-percent financing, for example, while retailers have slashed prices.

"Given all the discounting that is fueling these sales gains, we know that by the end of the year most retailers are going to feel as though the Grinch stole Christmas," said Anthony Chan, chief economist at Banc One Investment Advisors.

November's gain in retail sales was driven by a 2.3-percent jump in furniture sales and a 1.2 percent jump in sales of building equipment and garden supplies. Consumers likely were furnishing and improving all the houses they bought at a record pace in 2001 and 2002, thanks to super-low mortgage rates.

Performance in other sectors was less robust. Automobile sales dropped 0.1 percent, and clothing sales fell 1.3 percent. Sales of electronics and appliances rose 0.9 percent, and sales at gasoline stores rose 0.4 percent.