NEW YORK (AP) — Shoppers increased retail sales at a better-than-expected pace in August from July, helped by back-to-school shopping, even as President Donald Trump’s tariffs start to hurt the job market and lead to price increases. Retail sales rose 0.6% last month from July, when sales were up a revised 0.6%, according to the Commerce Department’s report. In June, retail sales rose 0.9%, the government agency said.The August performance, announced Tuesday, was also likely helped by the continued efforts by Americans to keep pushing up purchases ahead of expected price increases.The sales increases followed two straight months of spending declines in April and May.Excluding auto sales, which have been volatile since Trump imposed tariffs on many foreign-made cars, retail sales rose 0.7% in August. Business at clothing and accessories retailers rose 1%.And business at restaurants, the lone services component within the Census Bureau report and a barometer of discretionary spending, rose 0.7%. Stronger-than-expected retail sales, coupled with higher inflation as well as data showing soaring applications for unemployment aid, all create a complicated picture of the economy.