Bloomberg Surveillance · Friday, August 14, 2026
July retail sales fell by 0.6%, significantly missing Wall Street's expectations of a 0.1% gain. Analysts attribute some of this decline to Amazon's Prime Day moving from July to June, which shifted sales patterns. The weakness was broad-based, affecting categories like clothing, furniture, and gasoline, with some analysts suggesting it may be a blip rather than a sustained trend.
“And a big pullback in July, retail sales down six tenths of a percent. Wall Street was expecting a gain of a tenth of a percent, and this is compared to a rise of two tenths of a percent in June. Some analysts say part of that pullback is due to Amazon's Prime Day moving from July to June this year.”
“So once again, the overall number retail sales four July negative zero point six percent, worse than expected. Tom and Paul.”
“No, it's it's largely a blip. Look.”