macro

July Retail Sales: What It Means

By Research TeamPublished August 14, 20265 min read

An empty shopping cart sits in the middle of a brightly lit supermarket aisle, surrounded by shelves stocked with products. — An empty shopping cart sits in a supermarket aisle, reflecting the slowdown in retail sales. Illustration: MarketIntelLabs

Retail sales fell 0.6% in July, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Friday, a broader and sharper pullback than the consensus view heading into the release. Total retail and food services sales came in at $763.6 billion, seasonally adjusted, down from June's revised $768.1 billion. The control group measure economists watch for the consumer-spending line in GDP fell an estimated 0.5% on the month against a consensus call for a 0.2% gain, a miss of roughly 0.7 percentage points.

Key Takeaways Headline retail and food services sales fell 0.6% month over month in July to $763.6 billion, versus a 0.2% gain in June (Census Bureau, Aug 14, 2026). The retail sales control group, which excludes autos, ga…

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