CNNMoney says sales at major retailers rose for a 10th straight month in June, but mixed results reported Thursday signaled that consumers are still cautious.
According to sales tracker Thomson Reuters, which looks at monthly sales for 28 leading chains such as Macy’s, Target, Costco and J.C. Penney, June same-store sales rose 3.1%. That was slightly below the firm’s initial estimate for an increase of 3.2%.
Same-store sales, a key gauge of a retailer’s performance, measure sales at stores open at least a year.
While consumers may still be hesitant to open up their wallets, June’s gain was stronger than May’s 2.5% increase and a significant jump from the 4.9% drop in same-store sales reported in June of last year.
“The bottom line is that consumer spending is continuing to grow, but only modestly and not at the fast pace we saw at the beginning of the year,” said Scott Hoyt, a retail economist at Moody’s Economy.com.
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