NEW YORK (AP) — Newly vaccinated and armed with $1,400 stimulus checks, Americans went on a spending spree last month, buying new clothes and going out to eat again.

Retail sales surged a seasonally adjusted 9.8% after dropping about 3% the month before, the Commerce Department said Thursday.

The rise was much better than the 5.5% increase Wall Street analysts had expected.

Thursday’s report is the latest sign that the economy is improving as vaccinations accelerate, business restrictions are relaxed, and more people are willing to head out to shop or eat.

Employers, for example, added 916,000 jobs last month, the most since August. And U.S. consumer confidence surged in March to the highest level in a year.

Also on Thursday, the Labor Department said the number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell sharply last week to 576,000, a hopeful sign that layoffs are easing as the economy recovers from the pandemic recession.

The department said applications plummeted 193,000 from a revised 769,000 a week earlier. Jobless claims are now down sharply from a peak of 900,000 in early January.