US retail sales unchanged in July

US retail sales held steady at a seasonally adjusted $457.73 billion in July, the Commerce Department said Friday. This was below expectations of a 0.4% rise.

Sales climbed 0.8% in June, revised up from an initial estimate of 0.6% increase. From a year earlier, total retail sales rose 2.3%.     

Excluding autos, retail sales last month fell 0.3%, versus a 0.2% growth expected.