UNITED STATES - Sales continue to fall

UNITED STATES,Washington (AP) :

Retail sales fell in June for the second straight month, more evidence that the United States economic recovery will slow in the second half of the year. Retail spending dropped 0.5 per cent in June, the Commerce Department reported yesterday.

That followed a 1.1 per cent fall in May. Excluding autos, spending was down 0.1 per cent in June. Much of the weakness last month came from a drop in auto sales and a decline in gasoline prices. Excluding autos and gasoline, sales would have risen 0.1 per cent in June, after having plunged 1 per cent in May.

Separately, the Commerce Department said that business inventories rose 0.1 per cent in May. But sales dropped 0.9 per cent, the first decline since March 2009.

Americans are spending less, and that could threaten the pace of the recovery.

Consumer spending accounts for 70 per cent of economic activity. But consumers have held back because of high unemployment and other signs that have dampened their confidence, such as the volatile stock market and a struggling housing market.