What a shift from yesterday:
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- June's retail sales proved less than inspiring.
Deep discounts ruled, as retailers tried to sell through summer gear to prepare for fall merchandise (hello, it's July -- we don't need sweaters yet) and there are concerns that the second half of the year could be difficult. It looks like economic gloom has overtaken the consumer.
The results from June aren't terrible, 44% of retailers beat Wall Street's targets, although 56% of them missed. Overall, sales rose 3.1%, slightly below the average expectation of 3.2%, according to Thomson Reuters.
also:
Confidence among U.S. consumers sank more than forecast in June and employment fell for the first time this year, reflecting a drop in federal census workers and a smaller-than- forecast gain in the private sector, the Labor Department said July 2. Sales of new homes plunged in May to a record low.
Consumer Concerns
“Economic growth and consumer spending are slowing at a troubling time for U.S. retailers who are staring at a long string of more difficult comparisons once they get by July’s easy 4.7 percent drop” a year earlier, Perkins said.
