Worst U.S. Retail Sales in Six Months

U.S. retail sales stalled in July as discounting by merchants such as Macy’s Inc. (M) failed to counter the effects of feeble wage growth.

Purchases (RSTAMOM) were little changed, the weakest performance in six months, after a 0.2 percent advance in June, the Commerce Department said today in Washington. Gains in sales of clothing, groceries and personal-care goods were offset by declines at department, electronics and furniture stores.

Greater employment opportunities this year have yet to translate into the incomes needed to invigorate American consumers, a sign the economy will have trouble sustaining the second-quarter pickup in growth. Legions of long-term unemployed and discouraged workers are among the reasons wages aren’t picking up more quickly, giving Federal Reserve policy makers room to keep interest rates low.

Bloomberg

Content is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc. or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. If you would like to reproduce or redistribute any of the content found on MarketPulse, an award winning forex, commodities and global indices analysis and news site service produced by OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc., please access the RSS feed or contact us at info@marketpulse.com. Visit https://www.marketpulse.com/ to find out more about the beat of the global markets. © 2023 OANDA Business Information & Services Inc.