July 2021 U.S. Retail Sales Data

U.S. retail sales fell 1.1% for July, the main culprit for the drop was weakness in motor vehicle sales that were affected by low inventory, primarily driven by a computer chip shortage. Excluding auto sales, July’s retail sales would have been down 0.4%. Sales at restaurants and bars rose 1.7% in July, reflecting continued improvements in the service economy. KPMG Senior Economist Ken Kim is expecting the U.S. consumer to remain resilient and continue to cushion the impact from COVID provided the public’s fear of missing out “FOMO” continues to outpace the fear of going out “FOGO.”