Retail Sales Inch Up in May

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%.