According to Durex, whose condoms account for 80% of the British market, purchases made by women have risen steadily over the past 10 years.

For the month, domestic car sales rose 9.4 percent, to 142,461, and purchases of light trucks rose 20.3 percent, to 126,070.

ComScore Networks, a market research firm, said online purchases rose 22 percent for the day after Thanksgiving, to $305 million.

Over all, purchases by all levels of government rose at a 2.8 percent rate during the quarter, while international trade contributed modestly.

To be sure, Japanese purchases of American parts had been rising before the target was set and would have continued rising even without a target.

Sales of building materials were up 2.3 percent, and purchases of furniture and other home furnishings rose 2 percent.

Italian business confidence has been strong, and the purchases of certain durable goods, like cars, is rising.

But purchases of durable goods -big-ticket items expected to last more than three years - rose $24.3 billion.

In the three quarters beginning last October, however, net purchases of fixed-income assets rose by more than $100 billion, to $650 billion.

Corporate and catalogue purchases, however, rose 9 percent, to $20.2 million.