ECONOMY

Retail Sales Rise: The U.S. Commerce Department said sales staged a recovery in June, rising 0.6%, after dropping for two months. The increase was about what economists had predicted. The turnaround was led by durable goods, particularly cars and building materials. Retail sales had dropped a revised 0.4% in May--double a month-old 0.2% estimate--and 1% in April. Those figures were taken as evidence that the rapid economic growth the nation experienced in late 1993 has slowed to a more moderate pace.