Retail Sales rose 1% in July, above the 0.3% increase the market was expecting. Sales in June were downwardly revised from 0% to -0.2%, which slightly tempers the July gain. The Core reading, which gets plugged into GDP, rose 0.3%, which was 0.2% above estimates. Sequentially, it has moderated from a 0.9% increase in June but this was also a beat and may lead to some higher GDP estimates.
What’s the bottom line? This Retail Sales release marks another report where the Core reading came in above estimates, which may lead to stronger GDP estimates down the line.