Advance Retail Sales July - Business Insider

Mario Tama/Getty Images Shoppers walk down Broadway in Manhattan.

Retail sales improved 0.8 percent in July to $403.9 billion as sales of core retail sales surged, topping expectations for more moderate growth, new data from the Census Bureau shows.

Economists polled by Bloomberg had forecast a 0.3 percent improvement during the month.

Total sales excluding autos and gas sales advanced 0.9 percent, ahead of expectations for a 0.5 percent improvement.?

Nearly across the board, retailers logged better sales in July, with furniture, sporting goods, and health care stores posting more than a 1 percent month-on-month gain.

The Census Bureau data also showed large negative revisions to June data, with sales contracting 0.7 percent ? 20 basis points more than first thought.

Below, key output from the report.

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Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/advance-retail-sales-july-2012-8

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