Retail Sales Rise In July, Driven By Strong Auto Demand

U.S. retail sales rose 0.5% in July, driven by a strong surge in demand for automobiles, data from the Commerce Department showed on Friday.

According to a Dow Jones estimate cited by MarketWatch, the increase in retail sales in July was in line with analyst estimates. Retail sales performance for June was revised upward to 0.9% by the Commerce Department’s Census Bureau.

Excluding cars, retail sales grew 0.3% in July, the report showed. Of the 13 categories included in the data, nine categories witnessed an increase in sales during the month. While this retail sales data is not adjusted for inflation, the Census Bureau will release inflation-adjusted data later this month.

Apart from car sales, online retail and merchandise store sales also surged in July, likely driven in part by Amazon.com Inc.’s (AMZN) Prime Day sale, which is estimated to have driven a 30.3% increase in online spending across all retailers in the U.S, according to Adobe Inc. (ADBE).

The retail sales growth in July comes at a time when the labor market is showing signs of shifting to a lower gear, with non-farm payroll additions during the month coming in below expectations.

Meanwhile, U.S. equities were mixed in Friday’s morning session. At the time of writing, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), which tracks the S&P 500 index, was up 0.12%, while the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) fell 0.07%. Retail sentiment around the S&P 500 ETF on Stocktwits was in the ‘neutral’ territory.

Also See: Fed Chair Probable Marc Sumerlin Says Rate Cuts Would Need To Stop If 10-Year Treasury Yields Rise

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