NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Retail sales jumped an estimated 5.8 percent in the third quarter, up from a rise of 3.1 percent in the prior quarter, and leading to an upwardly revised forecast for the full year by one industry group early Thursday.
Strong back-to-school sales, coupled with changes in weather and a large demand for home furnishings, helped lift sales at retailers in the quarter, according to the National Retail Federation.
The trade group, which evaluates the sales of stores selling general merchandise, clothing, furniture, electronics, appliances, sporting goods, hobby items, books and music, said it now expects retail sales for 2003 to jump 4.1 percent. The forecast is well above the group's earlier expectation, in July, of a 3.5 rise in overall sales.
"The long-awaited bounce in economic activity has finally arrived," Rosalind Wells, chief economist at the National Retail Federation, said in a statement. "While we had forecast a pickup in the second half of the year, this kind of strength was not anticipated."
A pickup in business spending helped boost sales, including computer hardware and software purchases, the NRF said. Holiday sales are forecast to rise by 5.7 percent from last year, according to the group.
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