The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday edition that retail sales increased 0.6 per cent to $74.3-billion in June, but Statistics Canada warns of a likely decline of 0.8 per cent in July. A Canadian Press dispatch to The Globe reports that CIBC economist Andrew Grantham notes that retail sales appear to have stumbled slightly to start the third quarter. For June, Statistics Canada says sales were up in seven of nine subsectors. Sales at clothing, clothing accessories, shoes, jewellery, luggage and leather goods retailers added 3.1 per cent. Meanwhile, sales at food and beverage retailers fell 0.4 per cent as sales at supermarkets and other grocery retailers, except convenience retailers, dropped 0.6 per cent in June. Core retail sales, which exclude gasoline stations and fuel vendors and motor vehicle and parts dealers, gained 1.2 per cent in June. Sales at motor vehicle and parts dealers rose 1 per cent, helped by a 1.5-per-cent increase at new car dealers, while sales at gasoline stations and fuel vendors fell 4.1 per cent. In volume terms, overall retail sales increased 1.5 per cent in June. TD economist Maria Solovieva notes that both core spending and real activity rose for a second consecutive quarter.