06/17/2025

Americans Turn Cautious and Retail Sales Slide

This comes after a spending surge to beat tariffs

Retail sales fell sharply in May as consumers pulled back after a sharp increase in spending in March to get ahead of President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs on nearly all imports.

Sales at retail stores and restaurants dropped 0.9 percent in May, the Commerce Department said Tuesday, after a decline of 0.1 percent in April. The figure was pulled down by a steep drop in auto sales, after Americans ramped up their car-buying in March to get ahead of Trump's 25 percent duty on imported cars and car parts. Excluding autos, sales fell 0.3 percent.

The sales drop comes after sharp declines in consumer confidence this year. Still, inflation has cooled steadily and unemployment remains low, which could fuel steady spending in the coming months, as the economy has remained mostly solid.

Please select this link to read the complete article from The Associated Press.