The unseasonably cold weather in the US seems to have triggered an unexpected fall in retail sales for January.

Retail sales fell 0.4% last month, led by a fall in clothing, furniture and restaurants as footfall plummeted.

"Today's data unequivocally show that the unusually cold winter weather is weighing on economic activity. Consumer spending has literally frozen," said Harm Bandholz, chief economist at UniCredit Research in New York.