|
Retail sales decline
|
 |
August 13, 1998: 9:01 a.m. ET
GM strike brakes overall July sales, but figures are strong excluding autos
|
NEW YORK (CNNfn) - A staggering drop in auto sales during July resulted in the first decline in U.S. retail sales since last October, the Commerce Department's Census Bureau reported Thursday.
Overall July retail sales dropped 0.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted $224.7 billion, compared with a revised 0.1 percent increase in June. Excluding autos, however, retail sales were strong, gaining 0.5 percent from June's figures.
Economists had forecast a 0.4-percent increase, excluding autos. Even including the drag from auto sales, results beat economist forecasts of an overall decline of 0.8 percent.
The decline represented the first drop in retail sales since October 1997's 0.2-percent decline.
The 54-day General Motors Corp. (GM) strike effectively destroyed auto sales results, since GM's inventories were depleted and dealers were unable to provide customers with the car of their choice.
Auto sales, which typically account for one-quarter of all retail sales, declined 3 percent to $54.9 billion in July, compared with a revised 0.1 percent increase in June. That decline represents the steepest fall since a 3.3 percent drop in April 1997.
Durable goods fell 1.4 percent to $94.2 billion from June, due in part to slow auto sales. Nondurable goods, however, gained 0.4 percent to $130.6 billion.
Sales in the apparel sector climbed 0.7 percent to $10.4 billion, while gasoline sales increased 0.4 percent to $12.5 billion. 
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
