By Geoffrey Smith
Investing.com -- U.S. retail sales in June outstripped expectations, in the latest show of strength from an American consumer that seem happy to swallow some of the sharpest price rises in years.
Overall retail sales rose 0.6% on the month, in comparison to expectations for a drop of 0.4%. However, the rise came from a lower baseline as May's data were revised to show a drop of 1.7%, from the 1.3% originally reported.
Core retail sales, which exclude some of the more volatile components of consumer spending, rose by 1.3%, clearly ahead of the 0.4% rise expected, while the 'retail control' metric of spending rose by 1.1%. They, too, both had their May numbers revised down slightly.