The Commerce Department announced on Thursday the sales at U.S. retailers rose 0.3 percent m-o-m in December, following a revised 0.3 percent m-o-m advance in December (originally a 0.2 percent m-o-m gain).

Economists had expected total sales would increase 0.3 percent m-o-m in December.

Excluding auto, retail sales climbed 0.7 percent m-o-m in December after a revised flat m-o-m performance in the previous month (originally a 0.1 percent m-o-m advance), beating economists' forecast for a 0.5 percent m-o-m gain.

Meanwhile, closely watched core retail sales, which exclude automobiles, gasoline, building materials and food services, and are used in GDP calculations, increased 0.5 percent m-o-m in December after a downwardly revised 0.1 percent m-o-m rise in November.

In y-o-y terms, the U.S. retail sales surged 5.8 percent in December, following a 3.3 jump in the previous month.