U.S. consumers pulled back again in April, as retail sales dropped a seasonally adjusted 0.4 percent, the eighth decline in the past 10 months, the Commerce Department estimated Wednesday.
Retail sales were 10.1 percent lower than in April 2008, with about a third of the decline stemming from lower gasoline prices. Sales in the first four months of the year were down 10 percent compared with the same period a year ago.
Sales were mixed across types of stores in April. Excluding the 0.2 percent increase in autos, sales fell 0.5 percent.
Gasoline sales fell 2.3 percent as prices fell on a seasonally adjusted basis. Excluding gas, sales fell 0.2 percent in April.
