Some good news for retailers in July

New York -- A report suggests that U.S. consumers aren’t letting the summer doldrums or world unrest get in the way of shopping — although not all retailers are benefiting.



Retail sales rose 0.6% in July month, according to the U.S. Commerce Department. Excluding sales of automobiles, sales were up 0.4%. Eleven of 13 major categories showed increases.



The Commerce Department also revised June's 0.3% decline in retail sales to an unchanged reading.



One of the best performing categories in July was non-store retailers, which includes online merchants, where sales rose 1.5%. Sales rose 0.9% at sporting goods stores; 0.8% at home and furniture stores; 0.7% at building materials stores; and 0.4% at apparel stores. At restaurants, sales were up 0.7%.



However, department stores and general-merchandise retailers did not fare so well, both registering a 0.5% decline. (Both Macy’s and Kohl’s came up short in their second quarter results.) In another decline, electronics and appliance sales fell 1.2%.