Retail sales fell for the second straight month as the rising unemployment rate and falling home prices caused consumers to cut back on spending, the Associated Press reported.

According to the Commerce Department, retail sales fell 0.3 percent in August, compared with a revised 0.5 percent decrease in July, the worst results in five months. Economists expected sales to rise 0.3 percent last month.

Sales in electronics and appliance stores, clothing shops, building and garden stores and department stores fell, along with gasoline sales as prices retreated. Sales at furniture and home furnishing stores were flat, while auto dealers, sporting goods and books and music stores, grocery stores and health and beauty shops experienced gains. Excluding sales at gasoline stations, sales would have been flat last month.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Costco Wholesale Corp. also saw gains as retailers flocked to discount stores.

A separate report from the Labor Department showed that wholesale prices – the price of goods before they reach store shelves – fell 0.9 percent in August, the most in nearly two years, aided by lower energy prices.

With a labor report last week that showed the jobless rate jumped to 6.1 percent in August and this retail report, a growing number of analysts believe the economy could shrink in the final quarter of the year. Projections for the current July-September period are that the economy could slow to a 1.3 percent pace.