U.S. auto sales post big gains in May

Auto sales rose in May, helped by stronger consumer confidence and a rebound in home sales and construction.

A strong Memorial Day weekend and especially brisk truck sales helped the industry beat expectations.

"There was some concern last month when sales fell off a bit in April," said Jessica Caldwell, an analyst with auto information company Edmunds.com.

Automakers sold a little more than 1.4 million vehicles last month, about an 8.2% gain from May a year earlier.

As they have for much of the year, sales of big pickup trucks continued to pace the industry, pushing the average price of a vehicle sold last month to $30,978, up $618,or 2%, from the same month a year earlier, according to estimates by auto price information company TrueCar.com.