Shoppers reined in their spending — except for autos and home furnishings — in June, according to a government report issued yesterday.
The report said the core retail sales — which exclude autos, gas and buildings materials — used to calculate GDP rose just 0.1 percent, the smallest gain since January.
The report by the US Census Bureau on consumer spending, which makes up 70 percent of GDP, missed analysts’ estimates and forced some economists to pare back their second quarter GDP estimates.
Overall, retail sales gained 0.4 percent in June — down from the 0.6 percent rise a month earlier.
Nevertheless, Kathy Bostjancic, director of macroeconomic analysis for The Conference Board, remains optimistic about the gains in retail spending as a whole.
“Having spent the past few years paying off debt, consumers can finally put into play some long-delayed replacement purchasing,” she said.