U.S. retail slides in May

U.S. retail sales fell by 1.3 percent as Americans began to travel again and to shift spending from goods to services. In a Reuters poll, economists projected a drop of just 0.8 percent. April’s figure was revised up to a 0.9 percent increase, rather than no change as initially estimated. LBM and garden sales activity were up 21.1 percent from a year ago but down 5.9 percent from April.