**US retail sales fell unexpectedly in July, ending two months of rises and indicating that weaknesses still remain in the economy.**Sales declined 0.1% last month, following a revised 0.8% increase in June, the official figures from the Commerce Department showed.
Excluding sales of car and auto parts, sales were down 0.6% in July.
The figures disappointed analysts, who had been expecting on average a rise of 0.7% in overall sales last month.
Mixed picture
Car sales saw the biggest rise in July, adding 2.4% as they benefited from the government’s “cash for clunkers” scrappage scheme.
The weak retail sales figures come a day after the Federal Reserve said the worst of the US economy now appeared to be over.
The Fed’s comments came after other recent official figures showed that US worker productivity had increased at its fastest annual pace for nearly six years in the second quarter of 2009, while US exports rose in June.
However, US unemployment had risen again last month, although by less than analysts had expected.