Americans cut back on their spending last month as a surge in COVID-19 cases kept people away from stores.
Retail sales fell a seasonal adjusted 1.1% in July from the month before, the U.S. Commerce Department said Tuesday. It was a much larger drop than the 0.3% decline Wall Street analysts had expected.
The report offers the first solid glimpse of how the spread of the delta variant of COVID-19 may have changed the spending habits of Americans. At the end of July, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began recommending that even vaccinated people start wearing masks indoors in public places.
According to Tuesday's report, spending fell at stores that sell clothing, furniture and sporting goods. At restaurant and bars, spending still rose nearly 2%, but the rate of growth has slowed from recent months before the delta variant spread and people were feeling safer about dining without their masks with others.
Economists think Americans are also shifting their spending from goods to services, things like haircuts or vacations, which are not included in Tuesday’s report. And rising prices for everything from food to washing machines may have checked spending.
Major retailers are releasing quarterly financial results this week, offering more insight into behavior during yet another uptick in infections. On Tuesday, Walmart raised its sales outlook for the year, a sign it expects Americans to keep on shopping at the same pace.
But the Commerce Department reported Tuesday that even online sales have begun to slow, falling 3.1% from the month before. Companies have reported a slowdown after astronomical growth last year as people stayed home and shopped more online during the pandemic.
Ebay, for example, said its number of active shoppers slipped 2% to 159 million in its latest quarter. UPS said it's shipping fewer packages in the U.S. And Amazon, the world's largest online retailer, said online sales grew 13% in its most recent quarter, the company’s smallest quarterly online sales growth in two years.
Following sales tech startup Scratchpad raising $33 million in Series B Funding, CEO and co-founder Pouyan Salehi joined Cheddar to discuss how his company's software works to help salespeople with an all-in-one workspace, integrating with Salesforce to optimize notes, spreadsheets, and other relevant information so businesses can forecast and make the best decisions. "If you look at other crafts like artists, they'll have studios; chefs, they'll have kitchens; scientists will have labs, and we just asked, well, if you look at sales as a craft, why doesn't something exist that is designed solely for a salesperson?" Salehi said about his workspace app.
As the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics inches closer, sponsors are facing mounting pressure to pull out of the games with China is under fire for controversies like the alleged human rights abuses against its Muslim minority population and the disappearance of tennis player Peng Shuai. Rick Burton, professor of sport management at Syracuse University, joined Cheddar to discuss what he expects to happen once the games begin. Burton said China is too large of a market for American advertisers to ignore, and he doesn't expect any of them to pull out of the games. "Olympic sponsors right now I think are really just trying to hang on and get through these 17 days, come out the other end," he said.
Google could be gearing up to release its own wearable device as rumors swirl about a potential smartwatch with the Pixel brand. Jon Prosser, the creator of Front Page Tech, who tweeted a possible leak about the product, joined Cheddar's "Closing Bell" to discuss potential the benefits of it entering the same space as the Apple Watch. Prosser said, while he doesn't expect it to launch until at least 2023, the Pixel Watch will be "one of the most vital, most important wearables that we can have on the market," noting that it won't likely challenge Apple for much market share but will set the standard for other Android wearables to come.
The Federal Reserve released its highly-anticipated research weighing the pros and cons of a digital dollar in the U.S. The report comes as economic rivals like china have already piloted their own central bank digital currencies. Edward Moya, Senior Market Analyst, The Americas, Oanda, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
Tax season is now underway, and it's going to be a bit different than in years past. For starters, the deadline is April 18, instead of the typical April 15th, and many Americans will need to account for advance child tax credit payments, the return of the recovery rebate credit, and a special break for charitable contributions, among other things. Brent Weiss, Co-Founder and certified financial planner at Facet Wealth, tells us what we need to know about filing our taxes this year, and when we can expect to receive our returns.
American semiconductor company, Intel officially announcing plans to build a new $20 billion chip manufacturing complex outside Columbus, Ohio. This comes as the global chip shortage continues to hamper production of everything from smart phones, to cars. Jennifer Smith - Logistics and Supply Chain Reporter, WSJ joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
Verizon and AT&T officially launched their 5G wireless services Wednesday across the U.S. Despite pushback from U.S. airlines and the FAA over safety concerns, the telecom giants rolled out the next generation of wireless cellular technology, with speeds up to 20 times faster than 4G LTE. John Biggs, Editor, Tech Crunch joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
Earnings season kicks into high gear this week as big players are on tap to report their Q4 numbers, including Microsoft, Apple, and Tesla. Investors will be watching for key indicators on how the companies are dealing with inflation, Omicron and interest rates. Christine Short, VP of Research, Wall Street Horizon joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
