Americans keep buying stuff despite the pandemic — retail sales rise for a third straight month

  • 08/14/2020 12:00 AM
  • Source: CNBC
  • by: Jeff Cox

Consumers spent less than expected in July as a pullback in auto sales helped cool an economy struggling to shake off the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

Retail sales rose 1.2% for the month, against the expected increase of 2.3% from economists surveyed by Dow Jones.

The news wasn’t all a letdown, however: Excluding autos, the gain was 1.9%, ahead of the 1.2% estimate. A separate report also showed that worker productivity rose at its fastest pace in 11 years, up 7.3% annualized for the second quarter and well ahead of the 1.5% Reuters estimate.


Overall, it was the third straight monthly increase.
 Source: CNBC
SHARE Prophet Economist