US retail sales fall 0.3% to $672B in May

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - US retail sales fell 0.3% in May, against the market expectation of an increase, according to Commerce Department figures released on Wednesday.

Retail sales in the US declined to $672.9 billion last month on a monthly basis. The market expectation was a gain of 0.2%.

The figure in April stood at $674.7 billion, a monthly increase of 0.7%.

On an annual basis, however, retail sales rose 8.1% in May from the same month of last year.

"Gasoline stations were up 43.2% from May 2021, while food services and drinking places were up 17.5% from last year," the Commerce Department said in a statement.

The decline in retail sales suggests that consumer demand softened in the world's largest economy as record high inflation continues to bite.

Annual consumer inflation in the US soared 8.6% in May, the largest annual increase in more than 40 years.