US Retail Sales Drop 0.6% in July Amid Softening Consumer Demand

U.S. retail sales declined by 0.6% in July, missing expectations of a 0.1% increase.

The largest monthly decrease since May 2025 was led by non-store retailers, including Amazon, where sales fell 2.2%, the second-largest drop since July 2021.

Control-group sales, which exclude food services, auto dealers, building materials stores, and gas stations, dropped 0.4%, the largest decline since January 2025.

The decline in non-store retail sales follows strong online spending during Amazon's Prime Day event, where U.S. online spending across retailers reached $26.4 billion, a 9.3% increase from the previous year's event.