Retail Sales Declined 0.5% in June, Commerce Dept. Says

U.S. retail sales slipped 0.5 % in June from a month earlier to a seasonally adjusted $360.2 billion. The figure is a 4.8% gain from June 2009, the Commerce Department said in a statement.

Minus autos, the sales drop in June was a much narrower 0.1%. Motor vehicle sales slipped 2.3%, and gasoline was 2% lower in June, so these two categories were the major drag on June sales. While weaker than expected, the June number was an improvement over May's 1.1% overall decline.