According to the statistics of the Commerce Department's monthly retail sales report, released on Friday, retail sales for April - though somewhat weaker than those over the past few months - showed a 0.4 percent increase. Since the consensus Wall Street projections pertaining to the April retail sales were 0.2 percent, the figures reported by the Commerce Department were immediately hailed as an indication of persistently-robust consumer activity.

Commenting on the April retail sales figures, David Wyss, chief economist at Standard & Poor's, said that "retail sales were stronger than expected in April, showing that once again we've underestimated American's ability and willingness to shop."

Analyzing the April retail sales figures, Peter Newland, economist at Barclays Capital, said that the reported 0.4 percent increase was largely driven by a 0.5 percent increase in autos as well as gasoline, and a 6.9 percent rise in building material sales. However, the core sales, excluding the mentioned elements, actually dropped 0.2 percent.

Newland further added that within the core figure, the retail sales of food products fell 0.5 percent in April; while clothing dropped 1 percent, and general merchandise tumbled 0.4 percent.

However, given the rather curious ways of economic data, the actual strength of April retail sales cannot be specifically gauged until the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases its next-week-scheduled report on the Consumer Price Index and inflation for the month of April.