U.S. retail beats expectations in July

WASHINGTON ― U.S. retail sales rose by 0.5% in July, according to the Department of Commerce, better than 0.1% uptick forecast by economists in a Reuters poll. Compared to a year ago, sales increased 6.4%. At the same time, however, June’s results were revised downward to show gains of just 0.2% instead of the originally reported 0.5%. Sales at building materials stores were unchanged in July.