Overview

• June retail sales rose 0.6% after two months of declines, surpassing economists’ forecasts of a 0.1% gain.
• Core retail sales excluding automobiles, gasoline, building materials and food services increased 0.5%, reversing a downwardly revised 0.2% drop in May.
• Spending expanded across most categories, led by a 0.9% gain at clothing stores, a 0.6% increase at restaurants and a 0.4% rise in online retail.
• Consumer prices climbed 2.7% year-on-year and 0.3% month-to-month in June, with the largest gains among tariff-sensitive goods.
• The surge in nominal sales partly reflects tariff-induced price increases, muddying the outlook for Federal Reserve rate cuts.