A report released Tuesday by the Commerce Department noted that US retail sales for the month of June were up just 0.2%this is one of the measures to know how much has been the daily spending of consumers.
Although inflation is showing signs of slowing down, this latest report on retail sales highlights that Americans have reduced their spending at least in June in terms of food, gasoline, among others. Refinitiv economists forecast the rise for the prior month to be 0.5%. equal to that registered in the month of May.
For Robert Frick, corporate economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, “In general, Americans have the money to spend with more jobs, higher wages and lower inflation. But given the slowdown in spending and higher savings, they choose to be prudent, maybe because most see unemployment rising later this year,” he said.
The analysis presented by Frick is consistent with the expectations of many Americans regarding inflation. A survey published by the New York Federal Reserve showed that a large part of the population anticipates that high inflation will remain in the 3% range for the next year.
In addition, the Fed survey also found that Nearly 12% of those surveyed say that in a period of 12 months they could lose their job, This means that Americans are pessimistic about the situation in the labor market.
“While positive, the numbers were weaker than expected and show increasing consumer caution,” Frick said.
Last month, sales increased in only 13 categories, and the items in which consumers generated more expenses were in stores of electrical appliances, articles for the home and automobiles.
Also, there was strong online shopping and retail spending increased by 1.9% compared to May. On the other hand, spending on gardening, home improvement, sporting goods, music, bookstores, and grocery stores was reduced. gasoline sales also fell 1.4% in June.
Keep reading:
Source: La Opinion
