WASHINGTON _ Consumers cut back on car-buying in April but boosted spending in a number of other areas, giving evidence of the economy's staying power in spite of soaring gasoline prices.

The Commerce Department said that retail sales overall dipped by 0.2 percent last month but much of that weakness stemmed from a 2.8 percent plunge in car sales, the biggest setback in this category in 10 months.

Excluding autos, retail sales rose by a surprisingly strong 0.5 percent. This better-than-expected showing outside of autos was seen as evidence that the consumer is hanging tough even in the face of soaring gasoline prices and a slumping economy.

"The consumer has not given up the ghost and continues to spend," said Joel Naroff, chief economist at Naroff Economic Advisors.

Analysts said the unexpected strength showed consumer spending in many areas was holding up in April, the start of the second quarter, even before the government began mailing out 130 million economic stimulus payments, checks that are expected to give the economy a boost in coming months.

David Wyss, chief economist at Standard & Poor's in New York, said he was still expecting overall economic growth, as measured by the gross domestic product, to turn negative this quarter but that this forecast might prove too pessimistic given the strength seen in April retail sales. "It looks like it is hard to hold the American consumer back," he said.

While many analysts believe the economy has slipped into a recession, economic growth has not turned negative yet. Economists now believe the anemic 0.6 percent GDP growth rate turned in for the first quarter may be revised upward to around 1 percent.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 44.13 points to close at 12,832.18. It soared by 130 points on Monday.

There were indications in the retail sales report that consumers, trying to make their dollars go further, were choosing to do more of their shopping at discount stores. General merchandise stores, a category that includes big chains such as Wal-Mart, saw sales rise by a solid 0.5 percent while department stores saw sales dip by 0.1 percent.

Discounters Wal-Mart and TJX both reported solid first-quarter profits on Tuesday, another indication that Americans are hunting for bargains in the face of layoffs, a slumping housing market and gasoline prices at record highs, hitting $3.73 a gallon this week. Continued...