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U.S. June retail sales rise 0.2%, matching expectations

U.S. June retail sales rise 0.2%, matching expectations

Commerce Department data showed June retail sales reached $768.6 billion, up 0.2% from May and 6.72% from a year earlier, indicating consumer spending growth cooled from May but remained positive.

Fact Check
The specific figures in the claim (+0.7% MoM ex-autos, fifth straight month of >=0.7%, and +1.4% inflation-adjusted) appear verbatim in the Kobeissi Letter post and are independently corroborated by Augur Digest #280, which attributes them to the Chicago Fed CARTS. The Chicago Fed CARTS official page confirms CARTS is the relevant program producing these ex-autos sales and price projections. I could not directly view the specific June CARTS numeric release on chicagofed.org, so confidence is medium rather than high, but two consistent sources attributing identical figures to CARTS strongly support the claim.
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Summary

U.S. retail sales rose 0.2% in June to $768.6 billion, matching economists' expectations, while year-over-year growth slowed to 6.72% from 6.88%. May's monthly gain was revised up to 1.0%. The softer June pace partly reflected lower spending on gasoline as pump prices fell, and the data suggested consumer demand was cooling rather than contracting. Retail sales are a closely watched early gauge of household goods spending and broader economic momentum.

Terms & Concepts
  • Retail sales: A monthly measure of consumer purchases at stores and online, used as an early indicator of household spending trends.
  • YoY: Year-over-year comparison with the same period a year earlier.