Core retail sales in the United States weakened in July 2026, underscoring a cooling in consumer spending momentum at the start of the third quarter. The core measure, which excludes volatile components and is watched closely as a gauge of underlying demand, fell by 0.3% month-over-month, following a 0.2% decline in June 2026.
The fresh data, updated on 14 August 2026, indicate that not only has core retail activity continued to contract, but the pace of decline has also slightly accelerated compared with the previous month. On a month-over-month basis, the July reading reflects a deeper pullback than June, when core retail sales dropped 0.2% versus May. Market participants will be parsing these back-to-back declines for signs of whether softer consumer demand could start feeding through to broader economic growth in the coming months.
