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Shoppers search for sales

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The storied American consumer braved blizzards and economic headwinds to shop in February, unexpectedly pushing up retail sales for the second straight month, official data showed Friday.

Retail and food service sales rose 0.3 percent from January to 355.5 billion dollars, the Commerce Department said.

Most analysts expected they would fall 0.2 percent amid fierce winter storms that hammered large areas of the country.

The surprise advance sparked hopes the economy is finally gaining traction in what has been so far a government-fuelled recovery from the worst recession since the Great Depression.

"Even with some terrifically blustery storms, consumers managed to spend money in February," said Robert Brusca at FAO Economics.

"You can bet against the sun coming up or the full moon cycle turning a guy into a vampire, but never ever bet against the US consumer. He is on his way back and... will lift the recovery to higher ground."

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

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Honolulu shoppers wait for the cashiers at a supermarket

But a separate report on consumer sentiment disappointed Friday, highlighting the fragile nature of the budding recovery.

The University of Michigan's consumer confidence index dropped for the second consecutive month in March, to 72.5 from 73.6 in February, instead of rising to 74.0 as analysts expected.

The improvement in retail sales in February was broad-based, with shoppers snapping up a range of goods from clothing, furniture to electronics and appliances.

Only two of the 12 sectors measured declined.

Automobile sales tumbled 2.0 percent, the steepest skid since September 2009, in part reflecting the impact of Japanese automaker Toyota's massive recalls.

Health and personal care sales dropped 0.7 percent, the biggest fall since February 2004.

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A woman pushes a cart loaded with supplies

"Surprisingly, given the bad weather, the non-store retailers' category -- which includes Internet shopping -- didn't share in the gains. Non-store sales were flat," said Nigel Gault, chief US economist at IHS Global Insight.

Excluding auto and gasoline sales, which can be volatile from month to month, retail sales accelerated to a 0.9 percent gain after rising 0.5 percent in January.

Gault said the data signals real consumer spending will rise about 3.0 percent in the January-March period, noting that would be the fastest increase in three years.

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 downturn that began in December 2007.

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

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People pass storefront window displays

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

The unemployment rate, hovering near double-digit levels, is expected to remain high amid what some say will be a "jobless recovery."

The economy expanded at a powerful 5.9 percent pace in the 2009 fourth quarter after 2.2 percent growth in the third quarter as the world's largest economy shook off a full year of contraction.

Ian Shepherdson of High Frequency Economics cautioned that it was too soon to declare the consumer was back after after the Commerce Department revised January's retail sales gain down to 0.1 percent from 0.5 percent.

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

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Pakistani soldiers work at the scene of a bomb blast in Lahore

LAHORE, Pakistan (AFP) - Twin suicide attacks seconds apart targeted the Pakistani military Friday, killing up to 45 people in the second attack to hit security forces in the country's cultural capital this week.

The bombers walked up to army vehicles in the crowded R A Bazaar area of Lahore, blowing themselves up as people sat down to eat before the main Muslim weekly prayers were to begin, a senior official said.

Lahore, a city of eight million near Pakistan's border with India, has been increasingly subject to Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked attacks in a nationwide bombing campaign that has killed more than 3,000 people in three years.

The bombers targeted the cantonment, home to army officials and military installations, as well as hospitals and schools run by the military. There were civilian homes, shops and restaurants in the vicinity of the attack.

Footage of the blasts broadcast by private Geo TV showed people running and shouting in panic. One man, who apparently shot the video on a mobile phone, is heard murmuring: "Oh my God, oh my God, be kind to us God."

Jumpy images of the second explosion showed a thick ball of smoke with a huge bang and people shouting.

Mohammad Nadeem, a man in his 20s whose traditional white shalwar khamis was stained with blood, told AFP he was saying prayers in the mosque when he heard the first blast and rushed out only to hear another.

"The second blast took place very near a military vehicle. I sensed real danger and started running," he said.

"There were scenes of destruction in nearby restaurants and shops. There were broken chairs and tables and other items lying everywhere on the ground."

The army sealed off the tree-lined street after the twin blasts shattered windows and sent debris flying from nearby buildings.

"Forty-three people were killed and 134 wounded in the attacks," Lahore civil defence department chief Mazhar Ahmad told AFP.

But a senior security official put the death toll at 45. A military statement said eight army personnel were among the dead.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but Pakistan's Taliban claimed a suicide attack Monday that destroyed offices in Lahore used to interrogate militant suspects, killing 15 people, and pledged further attacks.

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Lahore has been increasingly subject to Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked attacks

Violence in Pakistan is concentrated largely in the lawless northwest border area with Afghanistan, but analysts have warned that extremism is taking a hold in Punjab, Pakistan's most populous and politically important province.

Eight attacks have killed more than 170 people in Lahore over the past year, a historical city, playground for the elite and home to many top brass in Pakistan's powerful military and intelligence establishment.

"We have the heads of both the bombers. There was an interval of 15 seconds between the two attacks. They were on foot. Their target was army vehicles," said police official Chaudhry Mohammad Shafiq.

Hours later, Friday evening, five small bombs exploded elsewhere in Lahore. They caused no casualties, police said, but broke the windows of nearby buildings, damaged at least one car and terrified residents.

"Five low-intensity blasts hit the Allamma Iqbal Town area of Lahore but caused no casualties," senior police official Nasir Rizvi told AFP.

Punjab police chief Tariq Saleem Dogar told reporters the explosions were apparently "aimed at creating panic, not damage."

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Two students injured in the blasts share a hospital bed in Lahore

Nuclear-armed Pakistan is on the frontline of the US war on Al-Qaeda, under pressure to act against Islamist militants in the border area with Afghanistan -- which Washington calls the most dangerous place on Earth.

The first two months of this year saw a decline in violence by militants in Pakistan after a significant increase in bloodshed in late 2009.

Officials linked the reduction to the suspected death -- still not confirmed -- of Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud and military offensives that have disrupted militant networks.

The military claims to have made big gains against Taliban and Al-Qaeda strongholds over the past year, following major offensives in the northwestern district of Swat and the tribal region of South Waziristan.

Washington says militants in Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal belt are fuelling the war in Afghanistan, where more than 120,000 NATO and US troops are battling a nine-year Taliban insurgency.