By Glenn Somerville 29 minutes ago WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Retail sales edged down 0.1 percent in July on a big drop at auto dealers, the government said on Wednesday in a report suggesting consumers were straining to keep spending up amid rising prices.A separate report showed a bigger-than-expected jump in import prices, underlining the pressure costlier oil was putting on the economy. Over the past 12 months, import prices have soared 21.6 percent -- the biggest gain in 26 years.
The drop in retail sales reported by the Commerce Department was the first since February and suggested a big boost to spending from government stimulus checks was fading.
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