Retail sales in the United States last month stayed flat compared to the previous month, beating market expectations. That indicates consumption is still solid even as interest rates remain high in the county.
The US Department of Commerce said on Tuesday retail sales for June were a little over 704.3 billion dollars.
That exceeded market expectations of minus 0.3 percent, and came as the increase in May was revised upwards from 0.1 percent to 0.3 percent.
The statistics show that online sales rose 1.9 percent, health and personal care rose 0.9 percent while clothing and accessories as well as furniture rose 0.6 percent.
Gas stations saw a 3.0 percent decline while car and car parts were down 2.0 percent.
Some analysts point out that cyberattacks on a company that provides software to car dealers last month could have led to a drop in car sales.
Other observers believe that consumer spending in the US is showing signs of slowing down.
The US media outlet Bloomberg insists that the data goes against the trend of a slowdown in consumption in recent months.
It cites an economist who argues that consumers took advantage of falling prices of products and spent the money on areas where they had been cautious.