GOOD TRUMP: Economy Continues To Boom, Sales Up

Despite all the ongoing chaos, the economy continues to grow, thanks to the pro-business nature of the Trump administration.

According to the Department of Commerce, retail sales increased by 0.6% in July, the highest increase in seven months and exceeding the 0.4% figure forecasted by economists. When automobile and gasoline sales are taken out of the equation, retail sales increased by 0.5%.

Here is Reuters‘ breakdown of the specific retail sales:

Retail sales in July were also buoyed by a 1.2 percent increase in receipts at building material stores. That followed a 1.1 percent gain in June. Sales at online retailers vaulted 1.3 percent in July, the largest gain since December 2016, likely buoyed by Amazon.com’s (AMZN.O) Prime Day promotion.

Sales at restaurants and bars rose 0.3 percent. Receipts at sporting goods and hobby stores also increased 0.3 percent.

But sales at electronics and appliance stores slipped 0.5 percent last month. Sales at clothing stores fell 0.2 percent after rising 0.7 percent in June. Clothing retailers are struggling with falling traffic in shopping malls and increased competition from Amazon and other online retailers.

Additionally, there was a 1.2% increase in automobile sales, likewise the biggest increase in seven months.

The retail sales figures for June and May were each revised from a 0.2% decrease to a 0.3% increase and from a 0.1% decrease to remaining even, respectively.

The dollar also increased by 0.47% to 93.90, putting the Federal Reserve on track to raise interest rates in September.

The engine behind the latest economic growth figures has been consumer spending, which was at 2.8% in the second quarter of 2017. However, the savings rate declined to 3.8% from 6.2% from the second quarter of 2015, suggesting that some consumers are having to borrow to fuel the spending.

Still, the latest retail sales and dollar index numbers combined with the over 200,000 jobs created in July shows the economy is steadily improving thanks to the economic stability under President Trump, largely stemming from the quiet dismantling of onerous regulations. Good Trump indeed.

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