Retail Sales Fall 0.4%, Commerce Says

Retail sales fell 0.4% in April, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.

The decline followed a revised 1.3% drop in March that was bigger than the 1.1% decline originally reported.

The April decline was less than the unchanged level that was projected by economists, Bloomberg reported.

Automobile sales sold at a 9.3 million annual pace in April, compared with a 9.9 million rate in March, Bloomberg said.

Almost all trucking operations depend on the health of retail sales because such sales involve nearly every type of cargo.