WASHINGTON - Consumers put away their wallets in June, sending retail sales crashing by the sharpest amount in nearly two years.

The Commerce Department reported Friday that retail sales fell by 0.9 percent last month, the biggest drop since August 2005. Demand for autos, furniture and building supplies all plunged.

The drop was much bigger than the flat reading that economists had been expecting. It raised new worries about consumer spending, which is closely watched because it accounts for two-thirds of total economic activity.

But in other economic news, the government reported that inventories held by businesses on shelves and backlots rose by 0.5 percent in May. This was a better-than-expected increase that provided support to the view that inventory rebuilding will help lift economic growth in coming months, offsetting the adverse effects of a sharp fall in housing activity.

The 0.5 percent rise in inventories in May surpassed the 0.3 percent increase analysts had been expecting and was the strongest performance in nine months.

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