US retail sales rose in June as consumers started back-to-school shopping early.
Revenue gained 0.6% — adjusted for seasonal variation — from the previous month to $720.1 billion, according to data the US Census Bureau released last week. That increase comes after sales dropped 0.9% to $715.5 billion in May due to a slowdown in consumer spending ahead of the tariffs.
“Consumers are being mindful of the potential impacts of tariffs and inflation on back-to-school items, and have turned to early shopping, discount stores and summer sales for savings on school essentials,” NRF Vice President of Industry and Consumer Insights Katherine Cullen said.
However, the National Retail Federation (NRF), which monitors spending using credit- and debit-card purchase data rather than survey-based numbers, reported that June sales slipped 0.33%.
“June’s numbers indicate that prolonged uncertainty surrounding the economy, tariffs and trade policy could be pushing consumers to adopt a ‘wait-and-see’ approach with their household budgets,” said NRF CEO Matthew Shay.
Sales were up 3.9% from June last year, versus a 3.3% rise in May, the US Census Bureau noted.
Seven of the nine categories the NRF tracks saw year-on-year gains in June. The clothing and accessories segment — which includes jewelry — grew 2.7% year on year and slid 0.2% versus May. Digital products, including electronic books and games, advanced 24% relative to the previous year and 0.3% from the previous month. Building and garden supply stores and furniture and home furnishings stores were the only two categories that were down on both an annual and monthly basis.
Image: A family shopping at a mall. (Shutterstock)