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January 14, 2003 9:00 AM, EST

Sales at U.S. retailers rose just 1.2% in December, but were flat after factoring out sales of automobiles, the government reported Tuesday, capping a disappointing holiday season, analysts said.

The increase in sales during the final month of 2002 brought sales over $300 billion to $308 billion, the Commerce Department said. During November, sales rose a revised 0.9%, Commerce said in its report.

Excluding automobile sales, which can fluctuate, sales were unchanged in December, following up a month where sales grew 0.3%.

Economists had expected retail sales to rise 1.5% to $307.1 billion, Bloomberg News reported.

High unemployment contributed to reduced spending by U.S. consumers, Bloomberg reported.

Commerce said that for all of 2002, sales rose 3.4% — down from a 3.7% increase in 2001. It was the weakest year for retail sales since the Commerce Department began keeping comparable records in 1992.

Sales of automobiles rose 5% in December, Commerce said, but sales of general merchandise rose just 0.3% during the month.

Analysts said that the trend of weak retail sales should continue at least for the first half of 2003, Bloomberg reported.