March 5 (Bloomberg) -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer, reported February sales growth that outpaced its three-month forecast after consumers battered by unemployment bought more groceries.

Revenue from U.S. stores open at least a year advanced 5.1 percent last month, helped by an increase in the number of customers, the Bentonville, Arkansas-based company said today in a statement distributed by PR Newswire. Wal-Mart predicts sales will rise 1 percent to 3 percent in the quarter ending May 1.

Gasoline prices have retreated from a record high in July, spurring more visits to Wal-Mart by people buying groceries, $4 prescriptions and other basics. The retailer reduced prices on cookware and Kraft Foods Inc.’s Oscar Mayer bacon to lure cost- conscious shoppers who are eating more meals at home.

“We continue to see increases in store traffic,” Todd Slater, a Lazard Capital Markets analyst in New York, wrote in a March 2 note to clients. He recommends buying Wal-Mart shares.

The retailer stopped giving a monthly sales forecast in February, citing difficulty in predicting consumer behavior in the deepening U.S. recession. It switched to quarterly forecasts starting with the period from Jan. 31 through May 1.

Wal-Mart rose $1.11 to $48.49 yesterday in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The stock has declined 14 percent this year. Its 2008 advance of 18 percent outpaced the other 29 Dow Jones Industrial Average stocks.

To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Burritt in Greensboro, North Carolina, at cburritt@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: March 5, 2009 08:05 EST