Americans picked up their spending in December during the pivotal holiday season even as they continued to confront high interest rates and steeper prices for everyday goods.

Retail sales, a measure of how much consumers spent on a number of everyday goods including cars, food and gasoline, rose 0.6% in December, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. That is above both the 0.4% gain projected by Refinitiv economists and the revised 0.3% increase recorded in November.

Excluding the more volatile measurements of gasoline and autos, sales still climbed 0.6% last month.

The December advance is not adjusted for inflation, meaning that consumers may be spending the same but getting less bang for their buck.

SILVER LINING OF HIGHER INTEREST RATES: SAVINGS ACCOUNT RATES

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