Sales at retail stores, restaurants and bars rose 0.2 percent in June, the Commerce Department reported Friday. The gain was shy of the 0.4- percent increase economists were expecting.
Sales minus the auto and parts sector were off 0.2 percent versus a forecast for a 0.2-percent gain. Auto sales account for about one-quarter of the month's overall retail performance.
Consumer spending is key to the economy's health. Consumer outlays account for two-thirds of total U.S. output, which most economists believe is about flat in the current quarter.
But May's retail sales figures were revised higher, to a 0.4 percent gain from the 0.1-percent rise first reported. The net two months' performance, therefore, is about what economists were expecting. Sales in April were left alone, up a healthy 1.4 percent.
The experts are mixed in their prediction for interest-rate policy in coming months
und wo sind die Daten für die Producerpreise?,sollten jetzt auch kommen