U.S. retail, food sales up 0.2 pct in July
U.S. retail and food services sales rose 0.2 percent in July, evidence of the ongoing economic recovery, figures from the Department of Commerce showed Tuesday.
The department reported that combined retail and food services increased 0.2 percent from June to seasonally adjusted 424.5 billion U.S. dollars in July.
The figure represented a 5.4-percent increase from a year earlier, said the department.
Excluding autos, retail and food services sales in July stood at 343.7 billion dollars, up 0.5 percent from June and up 4.0 percent from a year earlier.
Consumer spending accounted for about 70 percent of the total activity in the world's largest economy, which analysts say is on track of recovery from the worst recession in decades.
