Retail Sales Surge in June, Consumer Sentiment Index fell in July
July 15, 2016
Friday – July 15
Retail Sales surged in June by 0.6 %, well above the 0.2% expected led by gasoline sales and retail sales. However, May was revised lower to 0.2% from 0.5%. Sales were up 2.7% from a year earlier. When stripping out volatile spending on cars and auto parts, sales were up 0.7 percent. Spending on building materials and gardening supplies jumped 3.9%, the most since April 2010.
Consumers were less confident in July as high end consumers fretted over the Brexit issues. The Consumer Sentiment Index fell to 89.5 in July, below the 93 expected and down from the 93.5 from the previous reading. “While stock prices quickly rebounded, an underlying sense of uncertainty about global prospects as well as the outlook for the domestic economy have not faded,” said Richard Curtin, a spokeperson for the index.
