By CountingPips.com
U.S. Retail Sales fell in July after increasing for two straight months according to a report by the U.S. Commerce Department released today. Advance estimates of July retail sales showed that sales fell by 0.1 percent to $342.3 billion following a revised 0.8 percent 
increase in June. On an annual basis, retail sales are 8.3 percent below the July 2008 level after a June annual decline of 8.9 percent. Today’s data was worse than the market forecasts were expecting at an approximately 0.8 percent monthly sales gain.
Retail sales, minus automobiles, decreased by 0.6 percent in July after a revised 0.5 percent revised gain in June. This data also fell below expectations of a 0.1 percent gain for the month. On an annual basis, sales minus autos is 8.5 percent lower than the July 2008 level following June’s annual decline of 7.8 percent.
Contributing to July’s decreased retail sales were declines in gasoline station sales and building material & garden eq. & supplies dealers with declines of 2.1 percent each. Also contibuting to the decline in retail sales for July was a 0.9 percent decrease in furniture & home furnishings stores, a 1.4 percent fall in electronics & appliance stores and a 1.4 percent decrease in sporting goods, hobby, book & music stores. The largest positive contributor to the retail sales data was a 2.4 percent increase in motor vehicle & parts dealers.
Weekly Jobless Claims rise.
A separate government release by the U.S. Labor Department showed that weekly U.S. jobless claims increased in the week that ended on August 8th. New jobless claims grew to a total of 558,000 unemployed workers, an increase over the prior week by 4,000 workers. A 4-week moving average of unemployed workers rose by 8,500 from the prior week to a total of 565,000.
Meanwhile, workers seeking continuing claims for unemployment benefits for the week ending August 1st fell by 141,000 workers to a total of 6,202,000 unemployed workers. A four week moving average of continuing claims declined by 27,750 to 6,259,250.
Dollar is lower in Fx Trade Today.
The U.S. dollar has been lower today against the other major currencies in forex trading for the second day in a row. The dollar has been weaker versus the euro, British pound, Australian dollar, Japanese yen, Swiss franc and New Zealand dollar while trading almost unchanged versus the Canadian dollar at 2:18 pm ET in the US trading session.
EUR/USD Chart – The Euro rises for the second straight day today versus the US Dollar in forex trading and advances to its highest level since August 7th.
