Retail sales slump in July. Cheaper gas and Amazon Prime hangover are the chief culprits.

JUST IN: US retail sales fell in July for the first time in 14 months, driven by cheaper gas and a drop in online spending after Amazon's summer sales bonanza.

US retail sales just fell for the first time in fourteen months.

July's numbers came in soft, and the two culprits are almost funny. Cheaper gas, which means Americans spent less at the pump, and that drags the headline figure down even though it's good news for drivers. And an online spending hangover after Amazon's summer sales blowout, you can see the scale of that machine here, when everyone shops the deals in one big burst, the following weeks look empty.

So before anyone declares the American consumer dead, take a breath. Falling pump prices and a post Prime Day lull are the gentlest reasons a retail number can slump. The consumer has carried this economy through rate hikes, tariffs, and everything else for two years.

But fourteen months is a long streak to break, and the Fed reads these prints too. A cooling shopper is exactly the kind of thing that moves a rate conversation.

This is Liu Yang, reporting for HIT.

Source Read the original reporting at marketwatch.com