American Retail Sales Growth Falls to Negative in July

Source: US Census Bureau

American retail sales posted a decline in July, marking a reversal from the rebound recorded in June, but remained higher than levels recorded in the previous year.

• Retail and food services sales stood at $617.7 billion in July, down 1.1% from the previous month but 15.8% up from July 2020.
• Retail trade sales fell 1.5% from June, but up 13.3% from the same month last year.
• Clothing and clothing accessories soared 43.4% year on year, while food services and drinking places jumped 38.4%.
• June’s monthly sales were revised to $624.7 billion, with the growth upgraded to 0.7% from 0.6%.
• Total sales for the May to July period climbed 20.6% versus the comparable period in 2020.