U.S. retail sales increase 1.4 percent in July

U.S. retail sales surged a better-than-expected 1.4 percent in July, the Commerce Department said Friday, saying it is the most in six months.

The report showed that the biggest advance of in the retail sales for July was from the automobile sector, which saw sales rise by 3.1 percent following a decline of 2.5 percent in June.

The rebound on retail sales was stronger than economists were expecting. They forecasted a 0.8 percent gain.

Excluding sales of automobiles, which can swing widely from month to month, sales at all other merchants rose by a strong 1 percent, after edging up 0.1 percent in June.

Retail sales for June were revised down to a drop of 0.4 percent, compared with an initial estimate that sales had slumped just 0.1 percent.

Consumer spending is closely watched because it accounts for two-thirds of total U.S. economic activity and retail sales account for about an half of the consumer spending in the country.

Source: Xinhua