US retail sales continued their see-saw pattern in July, rising 0.3 pct overall and 0.6 pct without the drag from auto and gasoline sales, the Commerce Department reported. Analysts were expecting a 0.3 pct rebound from June's revised 0.7 pct decline, the size of the rebound limited by weaker auto sales and lower gasoline prices. Excluding autos, July retail sales rose 0.4 pct, just above the 0.3 pct expected. Auto sales fell 0.3 pct in dollar terms as unit sales fell for the seventh straight month. Gasoline station sales fell 0.8 pct on lower prices. Year-over-year, retail sales were up 3.2 pct in July. Excluding autos, they were up 4.4 pct and excluding both autos and gasoline, year-over-year sales rose 5.2 pct. The sales rebound was broadly based outside of autos and gas in both durable and non-durable goods. Electronics and appliance stores posted a 1.0 pct sales increase and even the housing-related furniture and building materials stores showed gains. In non-durables, clothing stores had a 1.3 pct increase, as did restaurants and bars. Both department and general merchandise stores showed strong sales gains, up 1.6 pct and 0.9 pct respectively. Non-store retailers were up as well by 0.4 pct. The see-saw pattern of one month strong, one month weak has gone on since January of this year. Most recently sales rose 1.6 pct in May followed by the 0.7 pct drop in June.