WASHINGTON — Retail sales climbed 0.4% to $422.8 billion in June after rising a revised 0.5% in May, originally reported as a 0.6% increase, the Commerce Department reported Monday.
June sales advanced half as much as the expectations of economists polled by Thomson Reuters, who expected the figure to rise 0.8%. On a year-over-year unadjusted basis, retail sales were up 5.7%.
Excluding autos, retail sales remained virtually unchanged in June after a 0.3% uptick the previous month. Economists had projected a 0.4% increase in retail sales minus autos.
Excluding both autos and gas, retail sales fell 0.1% in June after rising 0.3% the previous month. The decline was the first measurable dip in that category since a 0.3% drop recorded in June 2012.
