Source: Economics Group of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
Summary
Strong June retail sales show consumers may have been spooked by tariffs, but they haven’t fully gone into hiding. The fact that June is a slower month and that goods outlays comprise a fraction of overall outlays means that we are not completely rethinking our forecast for a soft second half for consumer spending.Is Consumer Spending Really on Better Footing?
Retailers had a much better-than-expected month in June. Overall sales rose 0.6% which was significantly better than the scant 0.1% pick-up that had been expected by the 65 forecasters contributing to the Bloomberg consensus.