(Yicai Global) Nov. 15 -- China's retail sales increased quicker for the second straight month last month, driven by economic recovery and rising consumption.

In October, total retail sales of consumer goods jumped 4.9 percent from a year ago, picking up the pace of surging for the second straight month, Fu Linghui, spokesperson of the National Bureau of Statistics, said at a press conference today. In September, the growth had been 4.4 percent.

There has been a continued unleashing of residents' shopping demand with economic recovery, said Fu. Online sales of physical goods jumped 5.2 percent last month from a year ago, accelerating the pace of rising for the second consecutive month. The increase had been 4.5 percent in September.

In the first 10 months of this year, sales of physical goods sold online climbed 14.6 percent from a year before, according to Fu. Such sales made up as much as 23.7 percent of the total in 31 provincial-level administration areas, driven by e-commerce, Fu added.

Big companies were doing better than before. In half of the 18 item categories, firms above designated scale logged larger increases in October than in September.

Consumers were buying necessities. Last month, large firms' retail sales of grains, edible oil, as well as foodstuff jumped by 9.9 percent from a year ago. Their sales of beverages climbed by 8.8 percent, maintaining rapid growth.

But people were also increasingly purchasing other types of items. Big companies logged a 34.8-percent increase in sales of communication devices from a year ago. They recorded a 12.6-percent hike in gold, silver, and jewelry sales, as well as an 11.5-percent boost in cultural and office appliance sales.

Editor: Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi