Retail Sales Dropping, but Nation Still Doing Better Than Last Year

National retail and food service sales fell a half-percent in June, producing $360.2 billion.

It's the second drop in sales in as many months, the U.S. Census Bureau reports. The May estimate showed that sales had dropped .6 percent from April.

There's good news, though. While the month-to-month sales have been dropping these past two months, the nation is still doing better than it was last year. Retail and food service sales were 4.8 percent above sales in June 2009, with a margin of error of .7 percentage points. Retail sales alone were up 5 percent from last year, with a margin of error of .7 percentage points. Nonstore retail sales were up 12.1 percent from last year, with a margin of error of 2.1 percent,and gasoline-station sales were up 8.8 percent from last year, with a 1.8 percent margin of error.