Brazil's retail sales jumped 11.43 percent in December from the same month a year earlier - nearly double the size of the rise in November - showing the economy is still strong despite recent interest rate hikes. For the whole of last year, retail sales rose 9.25 percent after three years of declines, the government's Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics IBGE added on Thursday, pointing out improvements in the job market, salaries and, briefly, credit.

Brazil's economy is believed to have grown more than 5 percent in 2004 after only meager 0.54 percent growth in 2003.

Copyright Reuters, 2005