US retail sales unexpectedly rose for the second month in February, despite severe winter storms that hammered large regions of the country, official data showed Friday.

The Commerce Department said that retail and food service sales increased 0.3 percent from January to 355.5 billion dollars, according to data unadjusted for price changes.

The growth in retail sales surprised most analysts, who had forecast a decline of 0.2 percent after massive snow storms crippled the densely populated Northeast for much of last month.

Some economists and central bank officials recently predicted the severe weather in February could depress a series of economic indicators, especially those linked to consumption, as Americans hunkered down at home amid road closures and transit shutdowns.

"This is a pleasant surprise, especially in the light of the severe winter weather across large parts of the country last month," said Ian Shepherdson of High Frequency Economics.

But Shepherdson warned that "one good month is not a trend," pointing out that the January sales rise was small.

The Commerce Department on Friday slashed the January increase from December to 0.1 percent from the 0.5 percent originally estimated.

"The continued weakness in consumer sentiment suggests little scope for a sustained acceleration," he said.

On a 12-month basis, retail sales were 3.9 percent higher than in February 2009, when the government passed a nearly 800-billion-dollar stimulus package in a bid to pull the world's largest economy out of the worst recession in decades.

The February advance in retail sales was broad-based, with only two of the 12 sectors measured registering declines.

Automobile sales tumbled 2.0 percent, the steepest decline since September 2009, and health and personal care sales dropped 0.7 percent, the biggest fall since February 2004.

Excluding auto and auto parts sales and gasoline service station sales, which can vary widely from month to month, retail sales acclerated to a 0.9 percent gain in February after rising 0.5 percent in January.

The monthly retail sales report is a key indicator of consumer spending, which accounts for two-thirds of US output.

Economists say consumer spending will be vital to a sustainable recovery as the government starts to wind down extraordinary stimulus measures.

President Barack Obama's administration and the Federal Reserve have predicted consumer spending would remain weak in 2010 and, unlike in past recoveries, would not be the main driver of economic growth.