US retail sales edge up slightly in May

(Sharecast News) - Americans kept their purse strings nearly closed in May. According to the Department of Commerce, in seasonally adjusted terms retail sales volumes edged up at a month-on-month pace of 0.1% to reach $703.9bn (consensus: 0.2%).

That followed a two tenths of a percentage point downwards revision to April's reading to -0.2%.

Nonetheless, that did not keep them from spending 0.8% more on motor vehicles and parts or at non-store retailers.

Gasoline station sales dropped by 2.2% over the month, alongside a 1.1% decline in those of furniture and a 0.8% drop in those of building materials.

-- More to follow --