Retail Report

While July retail sales came in strong at 0.7% M-o-M, inflation-adjusted Y-o-Y growth was -0.12, the sixth straight month of Y-o-Y declines. Moreover, after reaching an inflation-adjusted 4/21 sales peak of $232.7 billion, sales have been flat since. Lastly, retail sales excluding bars and restaurants are just 38% of total consumer spending. It’s the 62% of consumer spending on services that currently matters most as post-Covid we reorient towards them.