⁍ Retail sales dipped 0.1% last month after a downwardly revised 0.9% increase in July.

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⁍ Overall retail sales increased 0.6% in August, in part as higher gasoline prices supported receipts at service stations.

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⁍ Data for July was revised down to show retail sales increasing 0.9% instead of 1.2% as previously reported.

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– Americans cut back on their spending in August, sending “core” retail sales down 0.1%, the Commerce Department said today. Economists had expected sales to rise 0.5%, Reuters reports. The drop came after July’s 0.9% increase, which was revised downward to a 0.6% gain. Excluding the volatile categories of gasoline, building materials, and food services, sales fell for the first time in three months. “The decline in core retail sales is a further sign that the pace of economic growth has slowed in recent months,” one economist tells the Wall Street Journal. “The decline in core retail sales is likely to raise pressure on the White House and Congress to restart negotiations on a fiscal package to avoid the fiscal cliff.” At least 29.6 million people are on unemployment benefits thanks to the end of the $600 weekly unemployment subsidy in July.