There are tons of things that make January un-fun: no more holiday season, winter's just begun and you're feeling guilty about already breaking your New Year's resolution. Which maybe explains why consumers continue to drown their sorrows at the nearest shopping mall.

OK, we kind of made up that reasoning. But how else do you explain the continued surge in retail spending, post-holiday season? Isn't anyone burnt out yet?

According to the International Council of Shopping Centers, not yet. Last week marked yet another year-over-year gain in retail spending as retail stores reported a 2.8 increase in sales when compared with the corresponding week in 2010.

The increase comes despite the fact that winter storms "curbed spending" in the Northeast, according to Michael Niemira, ICSC director of research and chief economist. Also, January is typically a slow retail sales month as consumers recover from the holiday spending spree of December.

The news is just another piece of evidence that all these hesitant predictions about the economy slowly improving just might be on point. As long as consumers believe them, that is.