U.S. retail-sales rise weaker than expected

U.S. consumers pushed retail sales up in April although the increase was below analyst expectations

The commerce department reported yesterday that retail sales increased 0.5 per cent in April following a 0.6 per cent advance in March. The slight slowdown reflected in part a drop in car sales. Wall Street analysts had been forecasting a more robust 0.8 per cent advance, a forecast that was based on reports of strong demand during the month at big nationwide retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Target Corp.

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