U.S. retail sales rose 0.5% in July from the prior month, matching economists’ consensus, according to government data released Thursday. The increase follows a revised 0.6% gain in June and suggests consumer spending momentum held steady at the start of the third quarter. Sales excluding motor vehicles advanced 0.3%, while the measure that strips out both autos and gasoline climbed 0.2%. The so-called control-group category—used to calculate personal consumption expenditures in GDP—also increased 0.5%, slightly above the 0.4% projection.