Retail sales rebound in July to a yearly high

Shoppers turned out in force in July, driving retail sales to their largest gain since December 2016.



Retail sales in July increased by 0.6% from June on a seasonally adjusted basis, triple the revised 0.2% growth seen in June, according to the National Retail Federation. Sales have increased by 3.5% year-over-year. (The NRF numbers exclude automobiles, gasoline stations and restaurants.)



"Consumer spending remains solid as retail sales saw healthy improvements in July and revised June numbers were also positive,” NRF chief economist Jack Kleinhenz said. “We have yet to see the full effect of back-to-school spending, but pickup in spending was evident both online and in general merchandise, which includes bricks-and-mortar department stores. Soft or declining prices for retail goods continue to hold down the dollar amount of sales reported even though unit volume was up,”



By category, the biggest gain was in online and other non-store sales, which increased 1.3% over June and 11.4% year-over-year. Industry experts noted that online sales likely received a lift from Amazon.com’s Prime Day promotion.



Building materials and supplies stores were also strong. Sales increased 1.2% over June and increased 8.5% unadjusted year-over-year. Kleinhenz noted that rising home values are encouraging home-improvement spending and home-related retail purchases.



Other specifics include:



• Clothing and accessories stores decreased 0.2% seasonally adjusted from June but increased 0.1% unadjusted year-over-year.



• General merchandise stores increased 0.1% seasonally adjusted over June and increased 1.4% unadjusted year-over-year.



• Electronics and appliances stores decreased 0.5% seasonally adjusted from June and decreased 1.4% unadjusted year-over-year.



• Furniture and home furnishings stores increased 0.4% seasonally adjusted over June and increased 4.3% unadjusted year-over-year.



• Sporting goods stores increased 0.3% seasonally adjusted from June but decreased 5.7% unadjusted year-over-year.



• Health and personal care stores increased 0.4% over June and increased 1.6% unadjusted year-over-year.