Shoppers were seen maintaining their spending in June compared to May as they grappled with moderate inflation and still high interest rates, which have made purchases on credit relatively more expensive.
Retail sales were unchanged in June from May, which was better than economists expected, after a revised 0.3% rise in May, according to the Commerce Department. Last month, April sales were revised down which was a 0.2% decrease, from the previous unchanged revision. Sales rose 0.6% in March and 0.9% in February. This comes after sales fell 1.1% in January, which was partly due to bad weather.
Excluding gas prices and vehicle sales, retail sales rose 0.8%.
Online sales rose 1.9% while restaurant business rose 0.3%. Sales at clothing and accessories stores rose 0.6%.
Government retail data is not adjusted for inflation, which fell 0.1% from May to June, based on the latest government report. High inflation helps boost retail sales figures.
The direct US dollar index strengthened by 0.27% to trade at 104.16 after retail sales data was released.
