Retail sales hold steady in June

The nation's retailers showed a sales increase of 0.1% in June, according to the Advance Monthly Sales report released Thursday morning by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, June sales were estimated at $387.8 billion, an increase of 0.1% from the previous month. Compared with the same month last year, total sales were up 8.1%.

For NAICS 444 -- the category measuring building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers, including hardware stores and home centers -- June sales were $25.140 billion, up 1.3% from $24.806 billion in May, and up 7.8% from from $23.330 billion in June 2010.