Retail sales?

"Retail sales unexpectedly climbed in January, given a boost by demand for cars and gasoline in a positive sign for the economy."

You know I really don't understand this - demand for cars and gasoline? How about gas costs more, and people are maybe trading in their gas guzzlers for more economical models. I would love to see finer grains in this report. It sounds like a lot of crap to me.

Aha - as I am writing this and check the link it appears that the wording on this article has changed:

"Part of the gain, however, stemmed from higher gasoline prices. Retail-sales data aren't adjusted for inflation.

In addition, economists were puzzled by a 0.6% increase in auto sales, since other industry reports show auto sales declined"

I don't know who could take this as good news...