Retail sales decline for third month in a row

@CNNMoney July 16, 2012: 11:32 AM ET
gas-prices.gi.top.jpg

Retail sales declined for the third month in a row, amid fears of a global economic slowdown and concern over Europe.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Retail sales declined for the third month in a row, as consumers grow increasingly concerned over the weakening economic situation in the United States and Europe.

Overall retail sales in June fell 0.5% in the month, according to a Commerce Department report on Monday. The decline came as many were expecting growth, with economists surveyed by Briefing.com expecting growth of 0.2%.

Spending by consumers is an important driver for overall growth, making up more than two-thirds of the nation's economic activity. But consumers seemed to be keeping a tighter grip on their wallets as concerns about slower job creation, stalled global growth and the European debt crisis loomed in June.

"We've seen concerns about a fiscal cliff and about Europe and weaker job growth," said Paul Ashworth, senior U.S. economist at Capital Economics. "Weaker consumption growth has followed in line."

Ashworth said that although external factors, such as gasoline prices and unusually warm weather, initiated this slowdown a couple of months ago, it seems to have expanded from there.

Weakness was widespread in June. Sales at gasoline stations declined 1.8% over the month.

Gas prices declined steadily throughout the month, hitting a low of $3.41 a gallon at the end of June. Prices hadn't been that low since the beginning of January.

Spending at building supply retailers posted a 1.4% decline despite the rise in home-building activity and low mortgage rates.

Auto sales also posted a decrease of 0.7%, in terms of revenue. But even though the dollar value of sales declined, Ashworth points out that automakers did post higher-than-expected unit sales in June.

"We already have the unit sales from the manufacturers and we know they went up," he said.

The only bright spot in the month came from food and beverage sales and clothing, which edged up 0.1% and 0.2%, respectively.  To top of page

Overnight Avg Rate Latest Change Last Week
30 yr fixed3.80%3.88%
15 yr fixed3.20%3.23%
5/1 ARM3.84%3.88%
30 yr refi3.82%3.93%
15 yr refi3.20%3.23%
Rate data provided
by Bankrate.com
View rates in your area
 
Find personalized rates:
Economic Calendar
Latest ReportNext Update
Home pricesAug 28
Consumer confidenceAug 28
GDPAug 29
Manufacturing (ISM)Sept 4
JobsSept 7
Inflation (CPI)Sept 14
Retail sales Sept 14
  • -->

    Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.