US retail sales beat expectations in June, jobless claims fall
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The news: US retail sales broadly rebounded in June, with some of the increase likely reflected in the higher cost of some tariff-exposed goods.
The numbers: The US Commerce Department’s Census Bureau said that retail sales climbed 0.6% in June after an unrevised 0.9% drop in May. The increase came in above expectations from almost all Bloomberg economists.
Excluding cars, sales lifted 0.5% in the month. Car sales climbed 1.2% in June, one of the month’s largest increase.
The context: As the figures aren’t adjusted for inflation, some goods began increasing in price due to tariffs. Factoring in June’s 0.3% increase in consumer prices, retail sales were up 0.3%.
Sales at restaurants and bars (the only service-sector category in the retail report) rose 0.6% in June, suggesting that consumers are not yet cutting back aggressively on discretionary spending.
Data from the US Department of Labor released on Thursday shows that the country’s initial jobless claims, a proxy measure for unemployment, declined for a fifth straight week, suggesting resilience in the job market.
The sources: Census Bureau, Department of Labor, Bloomberg, Reuters
