Retail sales in the U.S. eased up in June, according to a new Commerce Department report, while previous month's figures were revised lower.

The 0.3% decline from May could be a sign consumer spending is easing after bumping higher recently, with the drop being described as broad based. The falloff also surprised the many analysts who predicted a small increase.

Also, the department moved May’s improvement lower, from 1.2% to 1% compared to the month before. April was revised to no change, following an initially reported 0.2% gain from March.

On a more encouraging note, retail sales during April through June increased 1.5% compared to the first quarter of the year and are 1.7% higher than during the second quarter of 2014.

Compared with the June 2014 level, retail sales last month increased 1.4%.

It’s hoped by many analysts the overall improvement in second quarter retail sales will help boost soon-to-be issued gross domestic product figures for the second quarter. The most recently revised report showed an annual GDP decline of 0.2% in the first quarter of the year.

“The consumer ‘resurgence’ has been called into question with a decisively weaker-than-expected spending report at the end of the second quarter,” said Lindsey Piegza, chief economist at Stifel Fixed Income. "Not only did June spending drop back into negative territory, but much of the strength in previous months was lessened, reestablishing the clear declining trend in consumption.

“The weakness was widespread across many key categories suggesting underlying weakness as opposed to isolated declines and very little momentum as we head further into the second half of the year.”

ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello described the June drop as a “head scratcher” in his Twitter feed. It could be related to an earlier Memorial Day in May, pulling sales into that month from June.