The latest data from the US Commerce Department has revealed that the US retail sales remained unchanged (almost) in June. The retail sales in the USA were valued at $704.3 billion, similar to what we saw in May 2024.
According to experts, the recent reading of US retail sales will not have much of an impact on the Federal Reserve's next actions. In other words, September's rate hike is still on the cards as inflation continues to decline every month.
However, the retail sales data have cleared up one thing: There's nothing to worry about regarding the economic slowdown in the USA, as retail sales during June were pretty strong.
According to Comerica Bank's chief economist, the US economy is in good shape. He also added that low-moderate income consumers seem to be pulling back from spending, which is expected due to the higher interest rates. However, the bigger picture tells us that the US economy is moving forward despite the numerous headwinds.
The US Commerce Department has also revised May's retail sales data by a +0.3% change. For the month of June, experts were looking forward to a contraction of 0.3%, but the actual data showed an increase of 2.3% y/y in June.
In June 2024, a 1.9% growth was seen in the sales of online stores, higher than May's increase of 1.1%. Similarly, a 3.0% decline was seen in the sales at the gasoline stations, a sign of lower prices.
Similarly, sales of garden equipment and building materials also jumped by 1.4%. Meanwhile, sales at the drinking/food services showed a gain of 0.3% against May's increase of 0.4%.
Overall, the Retail Sales data have shown some weakness in different sectors of the economy. However, this weakness was offset by strength in other areas, which has led to pretty good retail sales data for June.