US retail sales decline for second consecutive month — Bloomberg

According to data from the US Department of Commerce published on Tuesday, retail sales in the country declined for the second consecutive month in May. This is attributed to consumer concerns over President Donald Trump's tariffs and personal finances.

Last month, the value of retail purchases in the country decreased by 0.9%, marking the largest drop since the beginning of the year. This change was partly due to a decline in car sales. Moreover, there is a cooling of demand across various sectors of the US economy.

In addition, weakness in retail sales in May was due to the recovery of economic activity after a surge in the run-up to the introduction of tariffs, as well as unfavorable weather conditions in the east of the country. This opinion was expressed by Bradley Saunders, analyst of Capital Economics. He also added that the current situation should stabilize this month.

A negative trend is also observed in other areas. Industrial production in May declined for the second time in the last three months. These changes are the result of decreased output in the utilities sector and weak activity in the manufacturing industry, according to Bloomberg.