US retail sales rise less than expected in July

By Mucahithan Avcioglu

ISTANBUL (AA) - Retail trade in the US was up 0.5% month-on-month in July, following an increase of 0.9% in June, according to US Census Bureau data released Friday. The market expectation was a 0.6% monthly increase.

The total trade volume amounted to $726.3 billion.

The biggest rises were seen in sales of motor vehicle and parts dealers (1.6%), and furniture and home furniture stores (1.4%).

Sales at sports goods, hobby, music instrument, and book stores (0.8%), non-store merchants (0.8%), apparel and apparel accessory stores (0.7%), and petrol stations (0.7%) also rose.

However, sales at retailers of various stores decreased 1.7%, dealers of building materials and garden equipment and supplies fell 1%, and merchants of electronics and appliances dropped 0.6%.

Sales that are used to compute GDP, which do not include food services, car dealers, construction material stores, and petrol stations, increased 0.5% in July after an upwardly revised 0.8% growth and also above 0.4% estimates.

Sales, excluding cars, rose by 0.3% on a monthly basis.

On an annual basis, retail sales rose 3.9% last month.