WASHINGTON – Retail sales in May came in below the month's modest expectations Wednesday, with a 0.3% decline, with nine major categories either flat or down.
Retails sales excluding autos were also down 0.3% and excluding both autos and gasoline, were flat, both also under the consensus numbers.
Only electronic shopping and mail order, furniture, clothing stores - and by a slim 0.1% - food and beverage stores managed any gain for the month. The electronic shopping and mail order category has been notable for its enduring strength, up 10.2% in a year.
Food services lost a tenth.
Core retail sales, minus autos, gasoline, building materials and food services were unchanged after a 0.6% gain in April.
Through May overall retail and food services were up 3.8% from a year earlier.
Electronic goods and appliance store sales dropped 2.8%, the biggest decline in more than seven years. Department store sales lost 1.0%.
Gasoline was off 2.4%, somewhat steeper than expected.
Building materials saw its previous strength evaporate, showing no change in May but are still up 10.8% from a year earlier.
Health and personal care retailing was also unchanged. Sporting goods was down 0.6%, general merchandise was off 0.3%.
