Retail Sales Jump 1.4% in May

Retail sales rose by the most in more than a year last month, gaining 1.4%, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.

The gain was the biggest since January of last year and was double analysts’ forecasts, Bloomberg reported. April sales rose a revised 0.1%.

Sales excluding automobiles rose 1.3%, Commerce said. Service-station sales jumped 3.8% as fuel prices rose.

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