U.S. retail sales jumped 1.8 percent last month as buyer incentives led to the biggest gain in auto sales since just after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, a government report showed on Thursday according to Reuters. Rising gasoline prices also added to the sales gain, which economists said underscored the economy's vigor even though it fell short of Wall Street forecasts. Other reports also showed strength, with a key gauge on the pace of layoffs dropping last week to its lowest since late February and record lean business inventories in June. July's retail-sales jump followed a similarly healthy 1.7 percent rise in June, the Commerce Department said, but fell short of forecasts for a 2.2 percent rise. Excluding autos, sales rose a modest 0.3 percent, also below forecasts. Prices for U.S. government bonds, down before the data, turned up on the weaker-than-expected retail report, and the value of the dollar slipped to hit a six-week low against the Japanese yen. Stocks prices posted modest gains, restrained by a rise in crude oil prices to a record $66 a barrel. Economists, however, said the retail report put an exclamation mark on a string of data showing the economy moving ahead rapidly. --more 2103 Local Time 1803 GMT
