WASHINGTON — Retail sales fell in July, the weakest performance in five months, as a variety of economic woes combined to blunt the impact of billions of dollars in government stimulus payments to U.S. households. The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that retail sales dipped 0.1 percent last month, the first decline since sales had fallen by 0.5 percent in February. It was a worse showing than the flat reading economists had been expecting. For the full story visit www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-econ14-2008aug14,0,5614045.story