Superficial Strength?
Welcome to the Know the Difference Minute for Thursday, September 14th. 
August’s retail sales rose a better than expected 0.6%. That was after a surprisingly strong July where retail sales rose 0.7%. Many thought July’s strength was a last splurge on concerts and traveling. 
A big increase in spending in one month is often followed by a slowdown or even a decline in the following month. So, the expectation was to see a little bit of payback in August. 
July’s Beyonce Bounce and Swift Surge was revised down from 0.7% to 0.5%. Not bad, but not as good as originally reported.
Fast forward to August and the surprisingly strong 0.6% rise was mostly thanks to more expensive gasoline. 
However, since inflation was about 0.6% in August, real spending was basically flat. 
Over the last year, real retail sales growth has been negative. It’s not all sunshine and roses for consumers.
I’m Brian Jacobsen, Chief Economist at Annex Wealth Management.  That is your Know the Difference Minute