April 14 (Bloomberg) -- Sales at U.S. retailers climbed in March more than anticipated, signaling consumers will play a bigger role in a broadening economic recovery.

Purchases increased 1.6 percent last month, the most in four months, and gains for February and January were revised up, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. Another report showed consumer prices rose 0.1 percent last month.

Companies from Target Corp. to Saks Inc. benefited last month from an early Easter, better weather and a pickup in hiring, indicating the expansion is no longer solely dependent on gains in manufacturing. A lack of inflation is one reason Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, who testifies before congress today, and other Federal Reserve policy makers will probably keep interest rates low in coming months.

“Consumers are gradually finding their way back to the stores,” said Ken Mayland, president of ClearView Economics LLC in Pepper Pike, Ohio, who forecast a 1.5 percent rise in sales. “The talk about the ‘new consumer’ turns out to be a lot of rubbish. We’re seeing vestiges of the ‘old consumer.’”

The increase in the cost of living last month matched the median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News, figures from the Labor Department also showed today. Excluding food and fuel, the so-called core rate unexpectedly was unchanged after rising 0.1 percent in February.

Stocks Climb

Stock-index futures climbed after the reports signaled the economic recovery was not stoking inflation. The contract on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 0.4 percent to 1,198.2 at 8:50 a.m. in New York.

Retail sales were projected to increase 1.2 percent, according to the median estimate of 79 economists in a Bloomberg survey. Forecasts ranged from gains of 0.5 percent to 2.1 percent. Purchases in February and January were revised to show 0.5 percent gains, up from the previously reported 0.3 percent and 0.1 percent respective increases.

Sales excluding autos rose 0.6 percent, surpassing the 0.5 percent increase projected by the median estimate of economists surveyed.

Excluding autos, gasoline and building materials, which are the figures used to calculate gross domestic product, sales increased 0.5 percent after rising 1.2 percent in February.

Eleven of 13 major categories showed increases in sales last month, led by a 6.7 percent advance at auto dealers. Purchases of building materials jumped 3.1 percent, the most since November 2007, and receipts at clothing stores increased by the most in a year.

Auto Dealers

Dealerships saw a rebound last month after the February storms that pushed seasonal snowfall totals to records in parts of the eastern U.S. made some auto lots inaccessible.

Chain stores last month turned in their best year-over-year performance since 1999, industry figures showed last week. Gap Inc., Saks and TJX Cos. posted March sales gains that exceeded analysts’ estimates as warm weather and improving job prospects encouraged shoppers. The Easter holiday in early April may have resulted in more March sales, according to economists such as Julia Coronado at BNP Paribas in New York.

Home Depot Inc., the largest U.S. home-improvement retailer, is among companies hiring. The Atlanta-based merchant is adding store jobs for the first time in four years.

“We made a very conscious decision this year to hire,” Chief Executive Officer Frank Blake said in an April 6 interview. “The fourth quarter was more positive than we anticipated.”

Payrolls Expand

Payrolls increased by 162,000 in March, the third gain in five months, according to figures from the Labor Department. The jobless rate, which hasn’t risen since reaching a 26-year high of 10.1 percent in October, was 9.7 percent for a third month.

Consumer spending has increased for five months through February, the government reported last month. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg this month forecast purchases to increase 2.3 percent in 2010. Purchases declined in 2009 and 2008, the first back-to-back decrease since the 1930s.

To contact the reporter on this story: Timothy R. Homan in Washington at [email protected]