July retail sales surpassed Wall Street estimates in the latest sign that a resilient US consumer continues to surprise to the upside.
Retail sales rose 0.7% in July from the previous month, more than Wall Street's estimates for 0.4% growth. Sales excluding auto and gas increased 1.0%,well above estimates for 0.3% compiled by Bloomberg. Meanwhile, June sales were revised up to 0.3% from 0.2%.
The report, released by the Commerce Department, offers a snapshot of consumer spending at a time when economic data has been coming in stronger than expected and has economists pushing back or eliminating their recession calls.
It's one of several key readings on the consumer that was expected this week as big box retailers report second quarter results. On Tuesday morning, Home Depot once again warned of a slowdown in big ticket spending from its customers.
“While there was strength in categories associated with smaller projects, we did see continued pressure in certain big-ticket, discretionary categories," Home Depot CEO Ted Decker said in the company's earnings release.
Target (TGT), Walmart (WMT) TJX Companies (TJX), Ross Stores (ROST), and Deere & Co. (DE) are also expected to report this week.
Josh Schafer is a reporter for Yahoo Finance.
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