Washington, DC, June 13, 2006--Retail sales were sluggish in May, dragged down by weak auto sales and with most of the gain coming from higher gasoline prices, the government said Tuesday.
Retail sales rose a modest 0.1% in May, the Commerce Department estimated. Excluding auto sales, retail sales rose 0.5%. Economists had been expecting a tepid report and the increase in sales, and sales excluding autos, matched their forecasts.
One unexpected bright spot was a small upward revision to April retail sales, to a gain of 0.8% compared with the initial estimate of a 0.5% gain. Excluding autos, sales increased 0.8%, revised from 0.7%.
Retail sales were up 7.6% in the past year, the Commerce Department said. Sales excluding autos were up 9.1%. The monthly figures are adjusted for seasonal factors, but not for price changes.
In May, the driving force for sales was at gasoline stations, where sales rose 1.9%.
Excluding gas, retail sales fell 0.1% in May after rising 0.3% in April.
Sales at motor vehicle and parts dealers decreased 1.6% and were up 1.9% year-over-year.
Sales of other durable goods were mixed: Building and hardware store sales fell by 0.4%, while furniture sales fell 0.5%. On the other hand, electronics and appliance store sales rose 0.4%.
General merchandise store sales increased 0.3%. Within that category, department store sales increased 0.1%.
Clothing store sales jumped 0.2%. Sales at leisure-time stores such as sporting goods and books rose 0.7%. Sales at food stores increased 0.6%. Sales at restaurants and bars were flat. Sales at health and personal care stores increased 0.4%.
Sales at non-store outlets such as catalogs and online stores increased 1.8%.