India, May 15 -- A report released by the Commerce Department on Thursday showed a slight increase by U.S. retail sales in the month of April.
The Commerce Department said retail sales crept up by 0.1 percent in April after surging by an upwardly revised 1.7 percent in March.
Economists had expected retail sales to inch up by 0.1 percent compared to the 1.4 percent jump originally reported for the previous month.
Excluding a modest pullback in sales by motor vehicle and parts dealers, retail sales still edged up by 0.1 percent in April after climbing by 0.8 percent in March. Ex-auto sales were expected to rise by 0.3 percent.
The uptick by ex-auto sales partly reflected a 1.2 percent jump in sales by food services and drinking places as...