Retail sales nationwide rose a better-than-expected 0.8 percent in July after having fallen in June, according to preliminary data from the government.
The U.S. Commerce Department said sales surged in all retail sectors from June to July and in most sectors from July 2011. According to Yahoo Finance, analysts expected retail sales to be flat or to increase by a very slight 0.2 percent.
In particular, sales of motor vehicles and auto parts have surged 8.2 percent over July 2011, better than all retail sub-sectors except non-store retail, which rose 11.8 percent over last year, and sporting goods, hobby, book and music stores, which saw a 10.6-percent jump.
The advance estimates by the Census Bureau are based on a subsample of its full retail and food services survey base.
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