Shoppers spent more time – and money – in malls last month, with many retailers posting on Thursday strong results in what tends to be the final month of their fiscal year. The rich are doing a better job of prying open their wallets, as RetailMetrics, a research firm that covers the industry, reported that luxury retailers such as Saks (SKS) enjoyed larger gains in January than bargain stores. Signs of life in financial markets have made wealthier consumers more willing to spend ... and we all know that a recovery has to start someplace.

Retailers appear to have been rescued at the last minute, according to data from the International Council of Shopping Centers. Shoppers looking for deals the week before Christmas -- and making up for the day lost to stormy weather on the East Coast -- spent aggressively, sparing the retail sector a dismal 2008-like performance.

The healthy conclusion to the holiday season led to a positive change from November and made December one of only three months (including September and October) in which retail sales increased year-over-year.

This week, the world's top retailers will tell investors how the much-discussed holiday season went. Analysts expect a year-over-year gain of 1.3% for stores open at least a year, which of course uses a dismal 2008 as a benchmark.

The holiday shopping season is the last chance retailers get to pump up their financial statements before the close of their fiscal year, which usually comes at the end of January. For some retailers, up to 40% of their revenue comes in the weeks heading into Christmas.

According to the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) and Goldman Sachs, the week before Christmas was a solid one for retail sales. Compared to a year earlier, retail sales increased 2.3% as last-minute shoppers flocked to chain stores. This increase is impressive, but it starts to look a bit weaker when taken in a week-over-week context. Sales increased 0.4% when compared to a week earlier.

When looking at the week-over-week increase, which some call less than impressive, it's important to take into account the massive winter storm that battered the East Coast. This storm had to have an impact on the amount of shoppers trudging out to retail outlets. Despite that, the percentage of sales increased still.

A retail survey released this morning showed that last week's chain-store sales increased 2.6% compared to the same week last year. However, the survey, from the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) and Goldman Sachs, also showed that consumer activity dropped 1.3% from the week earlier.

ICSC chief economist Michael Niemera stated, "The now annual post-Thanksgiving week lull in consumer holiday-gift buying once again showed up as consumers continued to be well behind on their holiday-gift buying completion pace."

Two months of momentum and Black Friday weren't enough to make November a winner for retailers. The holiday shopping season kickoff was up only 0.5% year-over-year, and the month as a whole saw retail sales fall 0.3% year-over-year. As if the drop weren't bad enough, it's a decline on top of last year's November retail freefall, which means we went from bad to worse.

Meanwhile, analysts had expected a strong increase. U.S. government data on retail sales isn't due to be reported until December 11, 2009, and it's expected to be a better indicator of the sector's performance. The data released Thursday doesn't include sales by Wal-Mart (WMT).