Retail slipped 0.2 % in June

Retail sales dropped for the second consecutive month in June, the U.S. Census Bureau said Wednesday. After a 0.2 percent drop from April to May, retail and food service sales for June fell 0.5 percent to $401.5 billion. Sales for the month came to a 3.8 percent increase from June 2011. For the April through June period, sales rose 4.7 percent compared to the same period of 2011. Retail trade sales in June were off 0.5 percent from May and were 3.5 percent higher than June 2011. Non-store retail sales were up 10.9 percent from June 2011 while furniture and home furnishing sales were up 7.8 percent from a year earlier. Non-store sales refers to catalog and online sales. Vehicle sales from month to month slipped 0.6 percent as total sales excluding vehicles dropped 0.4 percent May to June. From June 2011, vehicle and parts sales were up 8.1 percent, the U.S. Census Bureau said.