By Herbert Lash

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The dollar slipped and government debt prices rose on Monday as the outlook for the U.S. economy remained mired in gloom and a surprise loss at the No. 4 U.S. bank stoked fears that the global credit crisis would worsen.

Oil prices jumped on an unexpected rise in U.S. gasoline sales in March. Gold bounced back in reaction to a weakening dollar and rising crude oil prices.

Stocks fell in Europe and traded little changed at midday in the United States after spending much of the morning underwater as the Wachovia loss and disappointing earnings at Philips Electronics kept investors cautious about equities.

Data on both sides of the Atlantic did little to dispel the sour mood in markets and over the U.S. economic outlook.

U.S. retail sales rose an unexpected 2 percent in March, spurred by record high gasoline costs. Excluding gasoline, retail sales were flat, the U.S. Commerce Department report said.

British manufacturers increased prices in March at the fastest rate since 1991 after the strongest rise in costs since records began being kept more than two decades ago, raising the risk of a sharp consumer price spike.

The weak results from Wachovia Corp WB.N -- the No. 4 U.S. bank -- and European newspaper reports of further write-downs at Credit Suisse revived worries about the extent of the global credit crisis.

Wachovia reported an upsurge in credit problems stemming from mortgages and other debt, triggering a fresh wave of fixed-income buying among investors already rattled by General Electric Co's (GE.N: Quote, Profile, Research) disappointing results on Friday.