Shopper at a mall impacting consumer data and retail sales reporting. (Photo: Reuters)
The Commerce Department reported Thursday that retail sales rose 0.6 percent in July, slightly beating Wall Street’s expectations for a gain of 0.5 percent. Excluding the volatile auto component, sales rose 0.4 percent, matching the media forecast.
Wall Street investors digesting the data in the report are now expecting the Federal Reserve’s policy-making committee to hold to their initial views for a mid-September rate hike.
