Retail Sales Up a Scant 0.1%

Retail sales rose a tiny 0.1% in July as strength at department stores and furniture stores only partially offset a big drop in auto sales, the government said today.

The Commerce Department said sales totaled a seasonally adjusted $118.7 billion last month following a 0.1% decline in June. Sales at auto dealers fell 1.7%, the steepest drop since March. Without this weakness, overall retail sales would have advanced by 0.6%, the best performance in the non-auto category since February.