The government on Thursday revised its assessment of retail sales trends upward for the first time in 21 months, following relatively strong growth in January.

The nation's retail sales rose 1.3 percent in January from a year earlier to 10.42 trillion yen, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said in a preliminary report. It was the first rise in three months and the highest growth since a 1.7 percent increase in March 2001.

"There is an incipient sign of recovery," METI said.

Sales by wholesalers also grew in January, gaining 2.3 percent to 33.16 trillion yen for the second consecutive monthly rise.

It is the first time since October that sales by both retailers and wholesalers have shown growth. Retail sales grew by 0.3 percent and wholesale sales by 3.1 percent.

The combined wholesale and retail sales in January increased 2.0 percent to 43.57 trillion yen for the second consecutive monthly rise, the ministry said.

A METI official said relatively good weather during January and the extra Saturday over January last year boosted sales at retailers in general.

Automobile sales showed a particularly strong increase of 7 percent from a year earlier, due to robust sales of cars and steady sales of minivehicles, the official said.

The sector covering textiles, apparel and accessories grew 2.5 percent as a result of clearance sales, he said.

Sales by supermarkets and department stores slipped 0.7 percent to 1.90 trillion yen for the third consecutive monthly decline, however. But the margin of decline shrank compared with previous months, the METI official said.