WASHINGTON - Retail sales rose 0.4% in July, buoyed by rising auto-related and gasoline sales, the Commerce Department reported this morning.
But retail sales excluding autos increased just 0.2%, weighed down by declines in most categories.
Economists polled by Thomson Reuters expected total retail sales to increase by 0.5% and for a 0.3% rise in sales excluding autos, according to the median estimate.
The headline July 0.4% increase followed a revised 0.3% decline in June that was originally reported as a 0.5% drop, while the 0.2% ex-autos dip followed an unrevised 0.1% June decrease.
Motor vehicle and parts dealers’ sales rose 1.6% in July -- up from a 1.3% decline the previous month – while gasoline station sales rose 2.3%, more than reversing a 2.0% decline in June. In addition, food services and drinking places sales upticked 0.2%.
However, most of the other categories posted sales declines, including furniture stores (-0.3%), electronics and appliance stores (-0.1%), building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers (-0.3%) and food and beverage stores (-0.3%). General merchandise stores posted a 1.0% drop in sales and clothing stores reported a 0.7% decline in sales.
