July 16 (UPI) — U.S. retail spending was weaker than expected while tourists from around the world came to the country for the World Cup.
Retail sales rose 0.2% in June from a revised 1% in May, and up 6.7% from June 2025, the U.S. Census Bureau said Thursday. Expectations from the data firm FactSet were at 0.3%.
The World Cup and Amazon‘s Prime Day helped boost spending, but lower gas prices slowed the rise. Excluding gas sales, June spending rose 0.7% after 0.9% in May.
A measure of retail spending that removes sales of building materials and gasoline rose 0.5% in June, which is down from 0.8% in May, but slightly higher than the expected 0.4% increase, CNN reported. It shows consumer demand continued steadily in June.
Strong economic growth along with rising inflation means that the Federal Reserve is less likely to lower interest rates. For the Fed to cut rates, inflation would need to slow to toward the 2% annual target or signs of a slowing economy, CNN said.
“Despite challenges, consumers are still spending and the labor market shows no signs of cracking,” Ellen Zentner, chief economic strategist at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, wrote Thursday.
“This type of data won’t move the Fed’s needle either way, but it underscores the ongoing resilience of the U.S. economy.”
Another economist said the second half of the year’s economy could slow even more.
“A renewed slowdown in spending, however, beckons over the second half of this year,” Oliver Allen, senior economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, wrote in an analyst note Thursday.
“The lift to cashflow from tax refunds now has faded, leaving consumers far more exposed to the real income shock from the jump in gas prices.”
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Amazon.com (AMZN) is facing a possible lawsuit from the US Federal Trade Commission that may lead to billions of dollars in civil penalties, over claims the e-commerce giant misled advertisers, Bloomberg reported, citing sources.
The FTC, which enforces antitrust and consumer
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China’s economy slowed down sharply in April 2026 as geopolitical fallout from the war in Iran weighed heavily on consumer spending and factory output.
Retail Sales: Growth flattened to just 0.2% year-over-year, marking the weakest performance since late 2022. This was a sharp deceleration
May 14 (UPI) — U.S. consumers spent $757.1 billion on retail and food services in April, a 0.5% increase over March, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Thursday.
For 12 months ending in April, not adjusted for price changes, sales increased by 4.9%. Total sales for February through April increased 4.4% over the same period in 2025.
Gasoline sales climbed 2.8% in April after jumping 13.7% in March.
Retail trade sales increased by 0.5% over March and 5.2% over last year. Non-store retail went up 11.1% for the year. Sales minus gasoline and building materials increased 0.46%.
While retail sales increased in April, they did so at a slower rate than in March, which increased by 1.6% for the month. Yet it was still the third consecutive monthly increase.
Retail sales as a whole grew but several categories experienced declines, including furniture store sales, down 2%, car dealerships, down 0.5%, department stores, down 3.2%, and clothing stores, down 1.5%.
A consumer survey conducted by the University of Michigan found that consumer sentiments are low due to concerns about high prices and current economic conditions. This has caused consumers to hold off on making major purchases, such as furniture and automobiles.
