US retail and food sales edge up

Retail and food sales reached $439.8bn (£263m) in the US last month, a marginal uptick of 0.5 per cent on June, and 3.7 per cent higher than July 2013.

 

Health and personal care stores recorded the biggest annual rise, with July's sales up 7.3 per cent on last year, and 0.4 per cent on a monthly basis.

 

The second-largest risers were auto and other motor vehicle dealers, up 6.4 per cent on 2013 but down 0.2 per cent from June 2014.

 

Department stores registered the greatest decline, dropping three per cent year-on-year, while also falling 0.7 per cent compared with last month. Overall general merchandise stores rose 1.1 per cent on the same time last year, but declined 0.5 per cent in monthly terms.

 

Total sales for May to July 2014 were up 4.2 per cent on the same period a year ago.