The Commerce Department reported(.pdf) that retail sales in the U.S. came in well below expectations last month, rising 0.1 percent in December following an upwardly revised increase of 0.4 percent in November. Excluding automobiles, sales fell 0.2 percent after a gain of 0.3 percent the month prior.

Apparently, American consumers bought nearly all of their iPads, iPhones, and big screen TVs in November as electronics & appliance stores saw sales plunge 3.9 percent in December, the largest decline amongst six of the 13 categories where sales were lower. Gasoline station sales fell 1.6 percent due to a plunging price at the pump and sales at general merchandise stores fell 0.8 percent.

Motor vehicle sales rose 1.7 percent last month and home improvement stores saw a 1.6 percent increase to lead the advancing categories as food and clothing sales both rose 0.7 percent. On a year-over-year basis, overall sales were up 6.5 percent and, for all of 2011, sales rose 7.7 percent, both fairly impressive increases given the slow economic recovery.

The Commerce Department reported(.pdf) that retail sales in the U.S. advanced for the sixth straight month, but the increase was less than expected, sales rising just 0.2 percent in November after a surge of 1.3 percent in September and a gain of 0.6 percent in October.

Excluding autos, sales rose 0.2 percent after a gain of 0.6 percent in October while sales excluding both autos and gasoline rose 0.2 percent in November after a gain of 0.7 percent.

Gasoline station sales dropped 0.1 percent after declining 0.4 percent, but they are still up 12.9 percent from a year ago due to higher prices at the pump, not higher energy demand.

Auto sales rose 0.7 percent after a surge of 1.0 percent the month prior while the biggest monthly increase in November occurred at electronics & appliance stores with a jump of 2.1 percent jump after surging 3.3 percent in October, a testament to America’s love for such products as Apple’s iPad2.

Seven retail categories saw higher sales while six declined, paced by a drop of 1.2 percent at miscellaneous store retailers and a decline of 0.3 percent at home improvement stores.

The Conference Board reported that consumer confidence surged from a two-and-a-half year low of 40.9 in October to 56.0 in November, the highest reading since before the debt ceiling debate began over the summer. After six months of declines, the Present Situation Index jumped from 27.1 to 38.3 and the Expectations Index surged from 50.0 to 67.8.

Those saying jobs are “plentiful” increased from 3.6 percent to 5.8 percent while those saying  jobs are “hard to get” fell from 46.9 percent to 42.1 percent.

Income expectations also improved, those saying they anticipate an increase in their wages over the next six months rose from 11.1 percent to 14.9 percent and business conditions are also expected to be better early next year, that view shared by 13.6 percent of respondents versus 10.2 percent last month.