WASHINGTON — Consumer spending surged in March by the most in almost five years as warmer weather brought shoppers back to auto-dealer lots and malls, a sign that the United States economy gained momentum heading into the second quarter.

Household purchases, which account for about 70 per cent of the economy, climbed 0.9 per cent, the most since August 2009, after a 0.5 per cent gain in February that was larger than previously estimated, showed Commerce Department figures released yesterday.

Continued gains in employment will probably lift consumer confidence and give households the means to spend after an unusually harsh winter weather held back the world’s largest economy.

“Consumers are benefiting from moderate income growth and wealth effects, and they’re not facing the headwinds of tax increases in the way they did last year,” said Mr Dean Maki, chief US economist at Barclays in an interview before the report was released.

“All that means better consumer spending growth this year, on balance,” he said.

More Americans than forecast filed claims for jobless benefits last week, underscoring the difficulty adjusting the data for seasonal variations such as the Easter holiday and spring recess at schools, a Labour Department report yesterday also showed.

The number of applications for unemployment insurance benefits climbed by 14,000 to 344,000 in the week ended April 26, the most since late February.

A report on Wednesday showed harsh winter weather stalled US growth in the first quarter as slumps in business investment and home construction weighed on the economy.

Gross domestic product grew at a 0.1 per cent annualised rate from January through March, compared with a 2.6 per cent gain in the prior quarter, showed figures from the Commerce Department.

Whirlpool is among companies projecting sales will improve amid “growth in US housing for the full year, increased demand related to the replacement cycle of appliances and significant improvement in discretionary demand that we are currently seeing improving”, said Mr Marc Bitzer, president of North America at the Benton Harbor.

Whirlpool reported first-quarter sales of US$4.36 billion (S$5.5 billion), surpassing analysts’ estimates, as sales increased in March after soft demand in January and February caused by “extreme weather”. Bloomberg