Spending at US retailers rose in June for the third month in a row, in a subdued show of resilience from American consumers. Retail spending, which is adjusted for seasonality but not inflation, rose 0.2% in June, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. That was a slower pace than last month’s revised 0.5% increase and below economists’ expectations of a 0.5% gain, according to Refinitiv. The figures add to signs that US consumers are still opening up their wallets amid higher interest rates, stubborn inflation and lingering economic uncertainty. Whether or not that momentum persists beyond the summer remains to be ... (full story)

While consensus expectations were for an acceleration in retail sales on MoM basis, BofA (now almost omnipotent in their forecasting ability) had a very different perspective (expecting core retail sales to actually decline MoM). And once again, BofA was right as the headline retail sales rose only 0.2% MoM (vs +0.5% exp). That is the 3rd monthly rise in retail sales in a row... Core retail sales also disappointed, rising 0.2% MoM (vs +0.3% exp)... On a YoY basis, both headline and core retail sales growth slowed... Finally, we note that the control group - which is used in the GDP calculation - rose 0.6% MoM (double ... (full story)