Warm weather helps stoke US retail sales US retail sales rose in March as construction and garden equipment suppliers benefited from unseasonably warm weather. Retail and food services sales rose 0.8 per cent to $411.1bn, higher than analysts" initial forecasts of 0.3 per cent. The figure was 6.5 per cent higher than March 2011, according to a commerce department report. "Today's US data releases suggest that households are starting to contribute more to the economic recovery just at a time when industrial activity appears to be easing," said Paul Dales, senior US economist at Capital Economics. Half of the decent 0.8 per cent month-on-month rise in retail sales in March was due to gains in gasoline, autos and building materials sales. But the 0.4 per cent month-on-month rise in other sales, which provide a better guide to the underlying trend, was broadly as expected and suggests that consumption is rising at a decent rate," he added. The warmer than usual weather across much of the country likely boosted sales of building materials and garden equipment, which were up 3 per cent compared with the month before and 14.1 per cent higher than March 2011. Analysts said better weather conditions were also likely behind the 0.9 per cent monthly rise in clothing sales and 0.5 per cent increase in sporting goods sales. February's reading was revised slightly lower to 1 per cent from the 1.1 per cent initially reported. Robust car sales led gains in February even as petrol prices crept higher. Excluding motor vehicles and petrol, retail sales edged 0.7 per cent higher in March, slightly above the 0.6 per cent rise seen the month before and beating expectations of 0.5 per cent. Petrol sales rose 1.1 per cent month-on-month, compared with a 3.6 per cent rise in February. Prices have been on a downward trend in the past few weeks but remain at elevated levels, with the national average for a gallon of regular gas reaching $3.907 on Monday, according to the American Automobile Association. "The biggest surprise was an increase in the census bureau's auto sales measure, which ran against the grain of the 4.8 per cent decline in unit sales reported by the carmakers earlier in the month," said Jay Feldman, director of US Economics at Credit Suisse. Motor vehicle sales rose 0.9 per cent after rising 1.3 per cent in February, as a result of pent-up demand. In a separate data release, the New York Federal Reserve's Empire State manufacturing index fell to a five-month low of 6.6 in April from 20.2 in March. The survey polls 175 manufacturing executives in New York State on the first of every month as a gauge of the region's economic health. Readings above zero indicate expansion in the manufacturing sector. Analysts said April's index suggested that the easing in the global economy may be taking its toll on US industry. The new orders component - one of the most important measures in the survey - showed little change, edging to 6.48 in April from 6.84 in March, and down from 9.73 in February.