U.S. Retail Sales Stall as Auto Dealers’ Gain Is Others’ Pain

Sales at U.S. 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 percent 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 percent rise in July. Excluding cars, sales retreated 0.3 percent, the most since the start of the year.