By alang.consultant New York (Knewz) — U.S. retail sales surged 3.8 percent in January, beating estimates and totaling nearly $650 billion, according to new data. The data was released on Feb. 16 by federal officials. In January 2022, retail sales were up 3.8 percent to start the year. Dow Jones officials predicted a 2 percent increase, according to media reports. The increase was buoyed by strong sales in areas such as furniture and home furnishing, which was up 7.2 percent from December. Furniture sales were up 2.7 percent over January 2021. Nonstore retailers also had a large spike, to the …