According to the Commerce Department, retail sales in the US went down by 0.9% in May, after a small drop of 0.1% in April. This decrease was mainly because car sales fell a lot. Car sales had gone up in March because people wanted to buy cars before new taxes were put on imported cars and parts. Even though people are less sure about the economy, steady prices and low unemployment might help keep spending at a normal level in the next few months. If we don't include gas, cars, and restaurants, sales actually went up by 0.4% last month. This shows that people are still buying some things they don't strictly need. While many areas saw big drops, online stores, clothing stores, and furniture stores had more sales. The overall drop in retail sales is connected to worries about higher prices because of the new taxes.