WASHINGTON — A second straight month of declining retail spending will likely keep unemployment high and help weaken the recovery.
Not everyone is suffering, though. Shoppers with stable jobs and steady pay can find lots of bargains. The economy is bleaker for anyone seeking a job or at risk of losing one. Still, Americans are spending less, and that threatens the pace of the recovery.
Federal Reserve officials took note of the weakness when they met in June, the minutes of that meeting show. The Fed signaled that it stood ready to take new steps to sustain the recovery if the economy worsened.
“Clearly, the consumer is being more cautious now,” said David Wyss, chief economist at Standard & Poor’s in New York.
Consumer spending accounts for about 70 percent of economic activity. It grew at a solid rate during the first three months of the year.
But consumers have held back in the past two months. Many are worried about high unemployment, a volatile stock market and a housing industry that has struggled without government incentives.
In June, retail sales revenue fell 0.5 percent, the Commerce Department said. That followed a 1.1 percent fall in May.
Pulling down the overall June figures was a drop in auto sales and declining gas prices. Excluding those volatile categories, sales ticked upward slightly for the month.
June’s disappointing retail sales figures also come as businesses are slowing their pace of restocking their shelves. The Commerce Department said Thursday that business inventories rose 0.1 percent in May. But sales dropped 0.9 percent, the first decline since March 2009.
June is typically a time when stores clear out their merchandise to make room for fall products. But merchants were forced to offer deeper discounts to draw wary shoppers, said John D. Morris of BMO Capital Markets, who monitors the volume and level of discounts at mall-based stores.
The bargains are getting better in July. At AnnTaylor Stores’ low-price Loft, shoppers could get khaki pants for $10, down from $59, while white jeans were down to $19.99, from $79.50.
At Men’s Wearhouse, shoppers who buy any suit can get a second suit or sport coat for $100. Even fall merchandise that just arrived at stores was being marked down.
“I am finding great value,” said Bonnie Weiss, a hotel executive from White Plains, N.Y., who picked up summer clothing at 50 percent discounts and bought fall suits at 30 percent off at such stores as Nordstrom and Bloomingdale’s.
She noted that even at Nordstrom Rack, she saw more racks of deeply discounted merchandise.
Department-store sales posted a 1.1 percent gain.
The larger category of general-merchandise stores, which includes such big retailers as Wal-Mart, posted a slight increase.
