US retail sales stall on auto dealers’gain

Washington - Sales at US retailers were little changed in July as Americans flocked to auto dealers at the expense of other merchants.

The stalling of purchases followed a 0.8% gain in June that was stronger than initially estimated, Commerce Department figures showed Friday in Washington.

The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey called for a 0.4% rise in July. Excluding cars, sales retreated 0.3%, the most since the start of the year.