US retail sales bounce around in a whipsaw trade environment

WASHINGTON (AP) — Consumers picked up their spending in June after an earlier pullback, despite anxiety over tariffs and the state of the U.S. economy. Retail sales rose a better-than-expected 0.6% in June, the Commerce Department said Thursday, after two consecutive months of spending declines, a 0.1% pullback in April and a 0.9% slowdown in May. Earlier in the year, strong retail sales were driven by car sales as Americans attempted to get ahead of President Donald Trump's 25% duty on imported cars and car parts. The erratic spending is taking place during a period of mixed signals about the…