Retail Sales Increase 0.6% in July

Sales at U.S. retailers rose in July on growing demand for everything from cars to clothing, and a decline the previous month was wiped away, signaling consumers are propelling growth in the world’s largest economy. The 0.6 percent advance matched the median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg and followed little change in June that was previously reported as a 0.3 percent drop, a Commerce Department report showed Thursday. Eleven of 13 major categories showed gains.