Retail sales rise a solid 0.5% in July from June helped by rebounding auto sales
Retail sales rose 0.5% last month, a slowdown from a revised 0.9% in June, according to the Commerce Department's report released Friday.
The increases followed two consecutive months of spending declines — a 0.1% pullback in April and a 0.9% slowdown in May.
Excluding auto sales, which have been volatile since President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on many foreign-made cares. retail sales rose 0.3%.
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Auto sales rose 1.6%. They appear to have returned roughly to normalized spending after a surge in March and April as Americans attempted to get ahead of Trump's 25% duty on imported cars and parts and then a slump after that, according to Samuel Tombs, chief U.S. Economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.
Business at clothing stores was up 0.7% while at electronics stores, sales were down 0.6%. Online retailers saw a 0.8% increase.
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Global News
7 minutes ago
- Global News
As U.S. consumer sentiment hits Great Recession lows, what's next for Canada?
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The University of Michigan released the findings of its latest Survey of Consumers on Aug. 15, which gauges the attitudes of average consumers across the continental U.S. Story continues below advertisement The report, conducted during May, June and July of 2025, shows how the current trade war sparked by U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff policies has led to a negative outlook for the job market among Americans. In the study, 60 per cent of consumers polled said they expect unemployment in the U.S. to get worse in the year ahead, which compares to 32 per cent in 2022 until November 2024, and the worst reading since the Great Recession. 'There has been more concern about momentum in U.S. labour markets. Even just in recent weeks, there was a significant downside surprise in U.S. payroll employment growth reported for July and some significant downward revisions that made prior month's labour market data look not as strong as it did before,' says Janzen. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'We (Royal Bank Economics) don't expect to see a resurgence (in job growth) over the next year, and still expect U.S. economic growth to slow — and with under-performance in some of these trade-sensitive sectors.' The survey data also shows that U.S. consumers may have been changing their spending habits out of concern for how tariffs would impact the economy, including by causing prices to spike. Twenty-four per cent of consumers polled said they expect to 'spend as usual' in the year ahead on big ticket items like a car, for instance, and that's down from 36 per cent in 2022 from August to October. 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Toronto Star
38 minutes ago
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There's a good reason Carney has nothing to learn from Starmer on negotiating with Trump
Prime Minister Mark Carney, left, U.S. President Donald Trump, centre, and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer during the G7 Leaders' Summit on June 16 in Kananaskis, Alta. 'What Trump doesn't do is bully things he likes,' writes Andrew MacDougall. 'Trump likes the United Kingdom and that makes all of the difference. It has little to do with Starmer or his propositions.' Pool Getty Images flag wire: false flag sponsored: false article_type: Opinion : sWebsitePrimaryPublication : publications/toronto_star bHasMigratedAvatar : false : Andrew MacDougall is a director at Trafalgar Strategy, a U.K.-based consultancy, and was director of communications to former prime minister Stephen Harper. Opinion articles are based on the author's interpretations and judgments of facts, data and events. More details
The Province
an hour ago
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Posthaste: Why Trump might have to cut tariffs — (spoiler, they're not working)
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Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Sign In or Create an Account Email Address Continue or View more offers Article content High ambitions, but though it's still early days yet, evidence is mounting that they are unlikely to accomplish any of these goals, said economists with Royal Bank of Canada. So far it's not foreign exporters but U.S. buyers who have absorbed most of the tariff costs. Though U.S. buyers technically pay import duties, exporters can share those costs by lowering their prices. Yet the U.S. Import Price Index, which does not include duties, has 'persistently' risen this year. 'This indicates U.S. buyers are continuing to pay higher prices, and there has been minimal tariff-sharing from foreign sellers,' said RBC senior economist Claire Fan in her report. 'Consumer price data suggests to-date, those tariff costs have not been passed along to households but that leaves U.S. businesses to absorb the costs, putting jobs at risk.' Advertisement 3 Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content There is also little evidence that tariffs are boosting U.S. manufacturing. Factory jobs dropped by more than 100,000 in July from a year ago and future hiring intentions remain weak. The ISM Manufacturing Employment Index hit its lowest level since the financial crisis, outside of the pandemic. 'The reality is that the scale of capital investment required to significantly reshore manufacturing activity is too large for businesses to justify when the future of U.S. tariff policy remains highly uncertain,' said Fan. Even if more factories were built, staffing them would be a challenge considering America's aging population. 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Article content As for the trade deficit, when you take into account the rush of goods into the country to avoid duties earlier this year, it is actually 28 per cent wider in 2025 than it was a year ago. In the longer term, RBC believes that little progress will be made to reduce the trade deficit while U.S. fiscal deficits remain so high. On that score, the United States since April has collected US$65 billion more in duties than last year, and RBC thinks total annual revenue from tariffs could reach US$350 billion. But that's a 'drop in the bucket' when compared to a federal deficit that is expected to grow from US$1.8 trillion this year to US$3 trillion in 2034, thanks in part to Trump's 'One big beautiful bill,' said Fan. Add to that an economy that is slowing under the weight of tariffs, and RBC believes that current rates are unsustainable and will start to come down before the end of the year. Advertisement 5 Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content Sign up here to get Posthaste delivered straight to your inbox. Over the past decade Canada's real economic growth has lagged America with the U.S. economy growing a cumulative 5.6 per cent more since 2015. But what was the cost of that growth? While some suggest the former Trudeau government and poor productivity are to blame for Canada falling behind, Douglas Porter, chief economist for BMO Capital Markets, has another take. Over those 10 years the finances of the U.S. government have deteriorated, with the budget deficit swelling from 2.4 per cent of gross domestic product in 2015 to 6.4 per cent this year, he said. Meanwhile, Ottawa's budget has gone from about balance to a deficit of about 2 per cent of GDP during that time — 'a much smaller net deterioration.' Advertisement 6 Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Advertisement 7 Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content Are you worried about having enough for retirement? Do you need to adjust your portfolio? Are you starting out or making a change and wondering how to build wealth? Are you trying to make ends meet? Drop us a line at wealth@ with your contact info and the gist of your problem and we'll find some experts to help you out while writing a Family Finance story about it (we'll keep your name out of it, of course). McLister on mortgages Want to learn more about mortgages? Mortgage strategist Robert McLister's Financial Post column can help navigate the complex sector, from the latest trends to financing opportunities you won't want to miss. Plus check his mortgage rate page for Canada's lowest national mortgage rates, updated daily. 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