Apparently, no one gave U.S. consumers the message the economy is slowing.
Even with fears of a recession blaring in the headlines, they continue to spend. So much so, retail sales in July 2019 were up 0.7% month over month. Excluding autos, retail sales were up a robust 1.0% in July. That’s quite an encouraging sign.
Retailers don’t see much to worry about either.
Target CEO Brian Cornell, for example, believes the U.S. consumer is strong, and will continue to spend. In fact, after his company crushed earnings estimates with EPS of $1.82 on revenue of $18.42 billion (as compared to estimates for $1.62 on $18.34 billion revenue), he noted that we’ll continue to see a healthy consumer environment.
“Consumer confidence remains strong, there’s been a reduction in fuel prices which we think is important for consumers, unemployment remains low and wages are growing,” he said, as quoted by CNBC. “We see a stable and healthy consumer environment visiting our stores and [web]site more often.”
Even Domino’s CEO Richard Allison just said the U.S. consumer is really strong.
Better, San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly just said a recession is not on the horizon. “When I look at the data coming in, I see solid domestic momentum that points to a continued economic expansion,” she said, as quoted by MarketWatch.
As long as the U.S. consumer remains this strong, there’s no need to worry about recession.
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