Retail sales drop for second month in a row Retail sales retreated for the second consecutive month in May, raising further worries about the strength of the recovery. The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that retail sales declined 0.2 percent in May, led by lower gas receipts at filling stations. The May decline, which was withing expectations, matched April's 0.2 percent drop. April had been revised downward from an increase of 0.1 percent. One bright spot was auto sales, which rose 0.8 percent. Excluding those, retail sales dropped 0.4 percent, the biggest drop in two years.