WASHINGTON, Aug 13 - U.S. retail sales posted an unexpectedly strong advance in July, as spending on a broad array of items shot up, the government said on Wednesday in a report likely to bolster hopes of a faster economic recovery. Total retail purchases rose 1.4 percent last month to $317.19 billion after an upwardly revised 0.9 percent gain a month earlier, the Commerce Department said. Auto dealerships saw sales rise by a hefty 3.2 percent in July, but even stripping motor vehicles out of the equation, retail sales increased a solid 0.8 percent. Economists polled by had expected sales to rise 0.9 percent overall and 0.5 percent excluding autos.
The July increase in sales, the biggest since March, and upward revisions to both June and May lend credence to forecasts for a sharp pick up in economic growth. Retail sales for June had originally been reported as rising a milder 0.5 percent and the figure for May was revised to an increase of 0.5 percent from an unchanged reading. The strength in July sales was broad-based. Sales of building materials and garden supplies rose 1.3 percent, electronics sales increased 1.2 percent, general merchandise was up 1.1 percent and receipts at gasoline stations gained 1.6 percent, reflecting a rise in prices at the pump. Sporting goods stores and non-store retailers, such as mail-order firms, were the only retail categories in which sales fell last month.//