Sales at United States retailers dropped in June, checking optimism about the strength of a second-quarter consumer spending rebound, according to Bloomberg.com.
After purchases increased 1% in May, June saw a 0.3% decrease, though the median forecast of 82 economists surveyed by Bloomberg predicted a 0.3% gain. Eight of 13 major retail categories suffered declines in demand.
“The weakness is pretty broad-based, but it does look like categories that you would consider to be seasonal in nature looked to be very weak,” says Stephen Stanley, chief economist at Stamford, Conn.-based Amherst Pierpont Securities LLC. “It puts a little cold water on the idea that the consumer was gathering momentum.”
Core sales, which are used to calculate gross domestic product and exclude such categories as automobiles, gas stations and building materials, declined 0.1% last month after a 0.7% increase in May.
However, when May and June are averaged, retail sales increased 0.15%, excluding auto and gasoline.
For more information, visit Bloomberg.com. — J.B.