WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - With steep declines in auto and gasoline sales offset by strength in other areas, the Commerce Department released a report on Tuesday showing U.S. retail sales came in unchanged in the month of June.
The Commerce Department said retail sales came in flat in June after rising by an upwardly revised 0.3 percent in May.
Economists had expected retail sales to come in unchanged compared to the 0.1 percent uptick originally reported for the previous month.
The report showed a sharp pullback in sales by motor vehicle and parts dealers, which plunged by 2.0 percent in June after jumping by 1.0 percent in May.
Excluding the steep drop in sales by motor vehicle and parts dealers, retail sales climbed by 0.4 percent in June after inching up by 0.1 percent in May. Ex-auto sales were expected to creep up by 0.1 percent.
While sales by gas stations plummeted by 3.0 percent, sales by building materials and supplies dealers and non-store retailers shot up by 1.4 percent and 1.9 percent, respectively. Sales by health and personal care stores also saw notable growth.
The report said core retail sales, which exclude automobiles, gasoline, building materials and food services, jumped by 0.9 percent in June after climbing by 0.4 percent in May.
'Even though headline retail sales were unchanged in June, the underlying details were strong,' said Michael Pearce, Deputy Chief U.S. Economist at Oxford Economics. 'Along with upward revisions to past data, that suggests real consumer spending rose by close to 2% annualized in Q2, slightly above our baseline forecast.'
He added, 'The strength of household balance sheets and the resilient labor market will continue to underpin solid consumer spending in the second half of 2024.'
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