While half of the eight retail sectors enjoyed sizable sales gains, about two-thirds of June’s increase came from stronger auto sales, the government agency said.

Excluding sales by dealers of new, used and recreational vehicles and auto parts, retail sales advanced by 0.4% in June, following a 0.3% decline the previous month.

Total spending in retail stores was 1.6% higher in the second quarter of 2005 than in the first quarter, when sales jumped by 2.3%.

The solid growth in the first quarter of 2005 was the strongest quarterly gain since the fourth quarter of 2001.

In June, retailers experienced their 15th monthly sales gain in the 18 months since the start of 2004. Previously, sales had declined in the last four months of 2003 after generally advancing since the fall of 2001.

Once prices are taken into account, constant dollar retail sales rose 1.0% in June after declining 1.1% in May.

In June, consumers increased their spending in the automotive (+2.9%), general merchandise (+1.1%), furniture and electronics (+1.1%) and clothing (+0.6%) sectors, after cutting back on their purchases in these same sectors in the previous month.

Also in June, spending was reduced in the food and beverage (-0.5%) and building supplies (-0.4%) sectors, while remaining flat in pharmacies and essentially unchanged (+0.2%) in the miscellaneous sector. The miscellaneous sector includes retailers such as sporting goods, hobby, music and book stores.

All provinces east of Saskatchewan experienced sales increases of at least 0.7% in June, following a reduction in consumer spending in retail stores in these provinces in May.

In June, retail sales were down in Saskatchewan (-1.2%) and Alberta (-0.3%), while remaining essentially flat in British Columbia (-0.1%). June’s declines in Saskatchewan and Alberta came on the heels of the only sales gains observed in all provinces in May. Lower sales in the majority of sectors were behind the overall retail sales declines seen in these two provinces in June.