Retail sales unchanged July to August

WASHINGTON, Sept. 14 (UPI) -- Retail sales overall were unchanged from July to August, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Wednesday.

Retail sales, including food service sales, adjusted for seasonal variations but not for prices, were $389.5 billion, "virtually unchanged" from July, but 7.2 percent above August 2010, the bureau said in a release.

The consensus forecast for month-to-month sales gains had called for an 0.2 percent month-to-month increase.

Gasoline sales were up 19.1 percent from August 2010 and non-store retail sales, which includes catalog and Internet sales, were up 13.3 percent from last year, the bureau said. Automobile sales rose 10.7 percent on a 12-month basis, the report said.