Retail Sales Inch Up in April, Apparel Gets a Boost

Clothing closed out a positive month on the change of seasons. Retail sales, including food services but excluding cars and car parts, ticked up 0.3% in April over the previous month to $396 billion, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The results represented a 4.8% increase over April 2017. Retail sales increased 0.4% from March…