Booming car sales and a rebound in spending on building materials and hardware had cash registers ringing in February.

The Retail Sales Index for the month jumped 9.1 percent after accounting for inflation, offsetting a poor January when the volume of sales slipped 0.6 percent year over year, according to the Government Department of Statistics.

Before adjusting for the 2.8 percent inflation rate in February, sales rose 12.2 percent compared to February, 2005, with turnover rising from $41.1 million to $46.2 million. All sectors in the Retail Sales Index reported positive sales gains with the exception of apparel stores.

The Department of Statistics said on Friday that the 12.2 percent increase was the largest year over year increase for a month since June, 2005, when sales rose 16.4 percent.

Much of the increase in February was driven by car sales, which soared 46 percent over February, 2005 and have been averaging year over year increases of 26.6 percent over the last 12 months.

HWP chief operating officer Alan Brooks said on Friday: "We have seen a considerable rise in automotive sales in the past few months, particularly in two automotive classes, compact vehicles and SUVs.

Mr. Brooks said HWP, which sells Hondas, Mazdas, Suzukis, Hyundais, Volkswagens and Nissan cars, has seen strong sales for Honda CRVs and Hyundai Tucsons "in keeping with the global trend towards sports utility vehicles".

"Due to lower licensing fees for compact cars, vehicles such as the Suzuki Swift, Hyundai Getz and the Daihatsu Sirion and Caharad are also popular," he added.

Gross receipts for food stores rose 9.2 percent in February 2006. Grocery stores retailers have made consistent monthly gains since September, 2002.

Meanwhile, food prices registered registered a 0.3 percent decline for the month of February.

Retailing activity in the building and hardware sector recorded double-digit gains for the second consecutive month, increasing 16.5 percent over February 2005.

Higher levels of construction activity translated into higher sales for building and hardware vendors who supply construction related materials. The increase in sales marks a turnaround from the last seven months of 2005, when sales either fell or rose marginally.

Residents returning to the Island from business and vacation tips declared overseas purchases of $3.4 million during the month of February 2006.

This level of spending was roughly $0.4 million or 10.0 percent higher than the level of spending reached in February 2005.

Combined local and overseas retail sales totalled $49.6 million in February 2006, $5.4 million more than February last year.

Overseas spending represented 6.9 percent of total retail sales in February, a slight drop from the seven percent recorded last year.

The apparel sector recorded a 21.6 percent year on year decline due to an inability to make up for the volume of sales previously experienced when Trimingham's-Smith's was still open, although past Retail Sales Index reports have said that individual stores have reported strong sales gains.