With sales at gas stations showing a significant increase, the Commerce Department released a report on Wednesday showing that U.S. retail sales increased by more than expected in the month of February.

The report said retail sales surged up by 1.1 percent in February after edging up by 0.2 percent in January. Economist had been expecting sales to increase by about 0.5 percent.

The bigger than expected increase in sales in February was due in large part to a 5.0 percent jump in sales by gas stations, which came on the heels of a 0.7 percent increase in the previous month.