Boom. Consumers stepped it up and out in June with retail sales surprising many on the upside. Sales moved 0.6% higher instead of further in the red, despite shortages of vehicles which pushed vehicle sales down in June. Sales ex vehicles surged 1.3% in June.
Consumers rushed to traditional department stores, clothing retailers, health & beauty stores & restaurants & bars. They bought luggage, clothing, shoes to fill it & makeup to adorn newly unmasked faces. Online spending bounced back as we will search online to find what we want.
Spending at gas stations surged on higher prices at the pump & the return of us all to the roads to commute & go on vacation. Sadly, the surge in gas prices are upping the wages that low wage workers need to keep take home pay steady or rising. Another hurdle for small biz.
Traditional department stores have seen traffic and spending surge as big box retailers and warehouse clubs who benefitted from quarantines suffered another month of losses.
Spending on things that made our cooped up existences over the last year easier such as spending at home and garden stores, furniture & exercise equipment to remodeling homes for offices & online schooling & in-home gyms. Outliers electronic & appliances, where backlogs built.
The control for retail sales, which feeds into GDP data, surged 1.2% during the month. Consumer spending which includes travel and tourism easily jumped at a double digit pace in the second quarter.
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