The Commerce Department announced on Thursday the sales at U.S. retailers surged 1.6 percent m-o-m in March, following an unrevised 0.2 percent m-o-m drop in February, boosted by sales of motor vehicles and a range of other goods. That was the biggest increase in retail trade since September 2017.

Economists had expected total sales would increase 0.9 percent m-o-m in March.

Excluding auto, retail sales increased 1.2 percent m-o-m in March after a revised 0.2 percent m-o-m drop in the previous month (originally a decline of 0.4 percent m-o-m), exciding economists’ forecast for a 0.7 percent m-o-m advance.

Meanwhile, closely watched core retail sales, which exclude automobiles, gasoline, building materials and food services, and are used in GDP calculations, rose 1.0 percent m-o-m in March after a downwardly revised 0.3 percent m-o-m decline in February (originally a 0.2 percent m-o-m decrease).

In y-o-y terms, the U.S. retail sales climbed 3.6 percent in March, accelerating from 2.2 percent the previous month.