U.S. retail sales climb more than expected in July

The Commerce Department announced on Thursday the sales at U.S. retailers rose 0.7 percent m-o-m in July, following a revised 0.3 percent m-o-m advance in June (originally a gain of 0.4 percent m-o-m), supported by higher purchases of a range of goods.

Economists had expected total sales would increase 0.3 percent m-o-m in July.

Excluding auto, retail sales also increased 1.0 percent m-o-m in July after a revised 0.3 percent m-o-m advance in the previous month (originally an advance of 0.4 percent m-o-m), exceeding economists’ forecast for a 0.4 percent m-o-m gain.

Meanwhile, closely watched core retail sales, which exclude automobiles, gasoline, building materials and food services, and are used in GDP calculations, jumped 1.0 percent m-o-m in July after an unrevised 0.7 percent m-o-m rise in June.

In y-o-y terms, the U.S. retail sales surged 3.4 percent in July, the same pace as in the previous month.