Summer Spending Boosts July US Retail Sales

US retail sales rose in July as consumers took advantage of special summer deals ahead of the higher tariff rates.

Revenue increased 0.5% — adjusted for seasonal variation — from the previous month to $726.3 billion, according to data the US Census Bureau released last week. It was the second consecutive month sales improved.

“Month-over-month gains were sizable against a weaker-than-normal June.… Consumer spending increased in July, driven by successful summer sales events held by many retailers and shoppers continuing to pull purchases forward ahead of tariffs,” said National Retail Federation (NRF) CEO Matthew Shay. “We may be seeing growing inflationary impacts from tariffs since recent data shows price increases in commodity goods, particularly non-durables.”

Sales were up 3.9% from July last year, the same improvement seen in June, the Census Bureau reported.

The NRF, which monitors spending using credit- and debit-card purchase data rather than survey-based numbers, reported that July sales were 1.5% higher than June’s.

Year on year, July’s sales grew in eight of the nine categories the NRF monitors. The clothing and accessories segment — which encompasses jewelry — gained 7% year on year and 1.8% compared to the previous month. Digital products, including electronic books and games, climbed 25% from the same period last year and 1.4% compared to June. Building and garden supply stores constituted the only category that fell year on year, going down 4.1%; however, it advanced 1.3% month on month.

Image: Women shopping. (Shutterstock)