Filed by KOSU News in Business.
August 13, 2009

Retail sales outside of autos turned in a disappointing performance in July, underscoring concerns about the timing and durability of a recovery from the worst recession since World War II.

The Commerce Department says retail sales fell 0.1 percent last month, a much worse performance than the 0.7 percent gain that economists had expected.

Auto sales, helped by the government’s “cash for clunkers” program, surged 2.4 percent — the most in six months. But there was widespread weakness elsewhere, with gasoline stations, department stores, electronics outlets and furniture stores all reporting declines.

Jobless Claims Up In Latest Week

In a separate report, the Labor Department said the number of newly laid-off workers filing claims for unemployment benefits rose unexpectedly last week, while continuing claims fell sharply.

New claims increased to a seasonally adjusted 558,000, from 554,000 the previous week. Private analysts expected new claims to drop to 545,000, according to Thomson Reuters.

The number of people remaining on the benefit rolls fell to 6.2 million from 6.34 million the previous week. Analysts had expected a slight decline.

The four-week average of initial claims, which smooths out fluctuations, rose by 8,500 to 565,000, after falling for six straight weeks. Copyright 2009 The Associated Press