July’s weaker-than-expected retail sales data raises doubts about consumer resilience amid a still-strong labor market.
US retail sales fell 0.6% in July, below the 0.1% gain economists had expected. The decline follows a 0.2% increase in June and marks the first drop in five months.
Excluding autos, sales slipped 0.3%, while the control group, a key input for GDP, dropped 0.4%. Year-over-year nominal sales growth slowed to 6.72% from a prior 6.8%.
The report challenges the view that consumer spending remains robust, though analysts caution it reflects only one month’s data.