Research Brief: Retail – June 2018

Retail sales accelerate as unemployment rate tumbles.  Retail spending posted another strong month with help from an incredibly tight labor market.  The 3.8 percent unemployment rate has placed upward pressure on wages as many companies compete for quality employees.  This trend has supposed modest but steady wage growth, driving the annual pace of the wage gains to 2.7 percent in May this year, in turn supporting a 5.1 percent increase in core retail sales.  With a number of tailwinds propelling retail sales, spending has been strong in several categories, particularly building materials, which grew by 5.0 percent over the past year.

Download