WASHINGTON, April 16: US consumers regained some of their legendary voracious appetite for shopping last month as retail sales spiked by a more-than-expected 0.7 per cent, the government said on Monday.

The Commerce Department’s monthly snapshot on national retail sales, a key driver of economic growth, defied most Wall Street analysts who had only chalked up a 0.4pc rise for March sales.

“The consumer remains the jewel of the US economy,” said Stephen Gallagher, an economist at Societe Generale.—AFP