Retail sales beat Wall Street estimates in July, helping to allay concerns about a significant slowdown in the U.S. economy.
Retail sales rose 1 percent in July, compared to economists’ expectations for a 0.4 percent increase in spending, according to Bloomberg data. Meanwhile, retail sales in June were revised downward, showing a 0.2 percent decline. The figure had previously shown stagnant sales from the previous month, according to data from the Census Bureau.
July sales, excluding autos and gasoline, rose 0.4 percent, above consensus estimates of 0.2 percent. The control group in Tuesday’s release, which excludes several volatile categories and is included in gross domestic product for the quarter, rose 0.3 percent in July, above estimates of 0.1 percent.
Automotive and parts dealers led the category with a 3.6% gain, while sales at electronics and appliance stores rose 1.6%. Also on Thursday, Walmart raised its full-year sales forecast as CFO John Rainey told CNBC the retailer sees “no further deterioration in consumer health.”
The CPI update comes amid concerns about the health of the U.S. economy. The latest data, along with better-than-expected inflation figures also released this week, have led economists to argue that the Fed should shift its focus from inflation trends to concerns about the labor market and the potential impact of a slowdown there on the broader economy.
“The focus is turning more to the growth data,” Nicholas Brooks, head of economic and investment research at ICG, told Yahoo Finance. “What happens with retail sales and other indicators of consumer sentiment are going to be increasingly important indicators for the markets, in my view.”
Josh Schafer is a reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on X @_joshschafer.
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