Sales at U.S. retailers rose 0.6 percent in December from November, Bloomberg reported.

The increase marked the sixth consecutive month that sales increased and capped the largest one-year jump in more than 10 years, according to Commerce Department data.

Sales were up 6.7 percent in 2010 from the prior year, the biggest increase since an 8.2 percent jump in 1999.

Consumers are “feeling that the worst is definitely behind them,” said David Semmens, a U.S. economist at Standard Chartered Bank in New York. “The first quarter should definitely receive a boost in consumer spending from the fiscal stimulus and the improvement in hiring,” he said.

According to MasterCard Advisors’ SpendingPulse, which tracks retail sales by all payment forms, 2010 holiday purchases increased 5.5 percent on a year-over-year basis, compared with a 4.1 percent gain a year earlier.

Ford Motor Co. and Dollar General Corp. are among U.S. companies that plan to hire in 2011, as tax cuts and an improving job market are expected to funnel more money into Americans’ pockets.

Consumer spending accounts for more than two-thirds of the economy.