Retail Sales Fell Unexpectedly in May

Washington, DC, June 11, 2010--Retail sales fell in May by the largest amount in eight months, according to the Commerce Department.

The Commerce Department says that spending fell 1.2 percent last month. Auto sales were down 1.7 percent but there was weakness in a number of areas. Excluding autos, sales fell 1.1 percent.

Economists had been expecting a slight increase for the month.

The big decline cast new doubts about the strength of the economic recovery. Consumer spending accounts for 70 percent of total economic activity. Economists are concerned that households will start trimming outlays as they continued to be battered by high unemployment and a swoon in stock prices.

Sales at hardware stores plunged 9.3 percent. That could reflect an impact from the end of the homebuyer tax credit, which had spurred home sales earlier in the spring.

Department store sales fell 1.8 percent while sales in the broader category of general merchandise stores, which includes big retailers such as Wal-Mart, fell 1.1 percent.