US Consumers Still Cautious as July Retail Sales Barely Rise

U.S. retail sales last month were mixed, with spending failing to take off, said leading sales monitoring organization, the National Retail Federation (NRF).

The NRF's sales figures, which strip out sales relating to automobiles, gas stations and restaurants, edged up just 0.3 percent seasonally adjusted from the previous month, and were up 5.0 percent unadjusted year-over-year.

“Consumers continue to grind forward in July, marking 13 consecutive months of retail sales gains,” said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay.

“However consumers alone can’t be expected to shoulder the burden of the economy. Fiscal and monetary policy uncertainties combined with stagnant economic and employment conditions continue to breed a volatile market with extreme swings in consumer spending. The economy can’t seem to maintain any amount of momentum. We just can’t seem to pull ourselves up.”

NRF Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz said, “Spending has stalled and the economy is stuck in neutral. Even with modest employment gains and steady consumer confidence, Americans remain in a cautiously-positive spending pattern. While clothing and sporting goods retailers saw modest gains with early back-to-school shopping, home-based retailers saw marked decreases, possibly indicating the end of the year-long housing boom. This month’s retail sales report will make any decision on tapering that much harder for policymakers in D.C.”

Meanwhile, retail sales in July published by the U.S. Census Bureau, were also anemic and in line with the NRF's figures. Retail and food services sales, which include non-general merchandise purchases, such as automobiles, gasoline stations, and restaurants, inched up by 0.2 percent seasonally adjusted month-to-month and increased by 5.4 percent adjusted year-over-year.