Retail sales climb for 1st time in 4 months

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- U.S. retail sales rose for the first time in four months in July, an encouraging sign that the economy may have started strengthening in the middle of the summer.
Overall retail sales rose 0.8% in the month, according to a Commerce Department report released Tuesday. The increase was well above economists' expectations for growth of 0.2%.