WASHINGTON (Reuters) &<51; Sales at United States retailers rose more than expected in November as consumers spent more on gasoline and a wide range of other goods, data showed on Friday, raising hopes of a self-sustaining economic recovery.

The Commerce Department said total retail sales increased 1.3 percent last month, the largest advance since August, after rising by a downwardly revised 1.1 percent in October. It was the second straight monthly gain. Sales in October were previously reported to have increased 1.4 percent.

Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast retail sales gaining 0.7 percent last month. Overall sales in November were helped by strong receipts from gasoline stations and increased purchases of motor vehicles and parts, building materials and electronic goods, among others. Gasoline sales surged 6 percent, the largest increase since June.

Compared with November last year, sales were up 1.9 percent, the first year-on-year gain since August 2008, a Commerce Department official said.

The data should help to ease concerns that the economy&S217;s recovery could falter because of lackluster consumer spending. The economy resumed growing in the third quarter, mostly because of government spending.

With the labor market starting to stabilize and household wealth rising, there is growing optimism that consumer spending will soon pick up.

Excluding motor vehicles and parts, retail sales increased 1 free credit report online.2 percent in November, the largest increase since January, after being flat in October. Economists had expected a 0.4 percent increase.

Core retail sales excluding autos, gasoline and building materials rose 0.6 percent, advancing for a fifth straight month.

Sales of building materials climbed 1.5 percent last month, the biggest gain since April 2008, after falling 1.8 percent in October. Purchases of electronics and appliances jumped 2.8 percent, the largest increase since January. The strong report on retail sales came as the Labor Department reported a rise of 1.7 percent in import prices in November, their largest gain since June, driven higher by fuel costs.

Analysts polled by Reuters had expected a slimmer rise of 1 percent. October&S217;s gain was also revised up to 0.8 percent from the 0.7 percent previously reported.

Import prices have been steadily rising over the last year and have increased during eight of the last nine months, the Labor Department said. They also rose 3.7 percent from November 2008 in the first annual gain since the October 2007-2008 period.

Excluding petroleum, import prices were up a much slimmer 0.7 percent in November.

U.S. Retail Sales Exceed Forecasts

BRUSSELS (Reuters) &<51; European Union regulators accepted on Wednesday a pledge by the chip maker Rambus to cut royalties worldwide on computer memory chip patents for five years to settle antitrust charges and avoid a possible fine.

Under the settlement, the chipmaker will not be found liable for any wrongdoing, the European Commission said in a statement.

The commission, following complaints from Infineon Technologies of Germany and Hynix Semiconductor of South Korea, had charged the company in 2007 with abusing its dominant position by claiming unreasonable royalties.

Rambus, based in Los Altos, Calif., made its offer to settle in June and this was market-tested by the commission, the executive body of the 27-country European Union.

&S220;The commitments in their final form, as modified by Rambus, are adequate to meet the competition concerns expressed in the statement of objections,&S221; or charge sheet, the statement said.

As part of the settlement, Rambus will cap royalties at 1.5 percent for the later generations of JEDEC DRAM (dynamic random-access memory) standards for five years bad credit pay day loans.

JEDEC is a standard-setting organization for the chip-making industry. JEDEC-compliant DRAMs represent around 95 percent of the market and are used in virtually all personal computers.

&S220;An effective standard-setting process should take place in a non-discriminatory, open and transparent way to ensure competition on the merits and to allow consumers to benefit from technical development and innovation,&S221; the competition commissioner, Neelie Kroes, said. &S220;Abusive practices in standard-setting can harm innovation and lead to higher prices for companies and consumers. For its part, the commission will vigorously enforce the competition rules in this area,&S221; she added in the statement.

The commission said the five-year pledge would ensure the decision covered any claims of Rambus based on patents, and patent applications, dating back to when it was a JEDEC member.

Europe Accepts Settlement Offer From Rambus