May has been a month of distraught throughout the economy and the United States retail sales haven’t given any aid after showing a larger drop than expected. Car sales dropped off and gas has skyrocketed which has also given direction to households to cut spending in other areas.

Retail sales shed 0.3% in May after witnessing a slight gain of 7% in April. This is the first recorded decline in nearly five months. Many economists and investors left the prediction of a rise in retail sales of just 0.1% but got the opposite.

The slowdown is said to be due in part to the slowing of car purchases due to car prices staying up but loans becoming more expensive. The sales specifically shed 3.5%. Sticking with cars, spending at gas stations increased by 4% and May reports indicated a rise of 43.2% prior to last year. According to AAA, gas has topped $5/gal across the country.

The data reported also showed a decrease in online shopping by a measly 0.1% decline. Doesn’t seem to be that large of a drop, but last month saw an increase of nearly 1%.

Restaurants, bars, etc. also experienced a cut in spending as well.