NEW YORK — Retailers could be sweating it out this summer.
Shoppers, worried about jobs and the economy, pulled back on spending in June, slowing sales for most retailers to the weakest pace since 2009. And that could leave merchants on edge, wondering whether Americans will spend more when the back-to-school season starts in late July.
“The consumer is in a watch-and-wait mode,'” says Arnold Aronson, managing director of retail strategies at consulting firm Kurt Salmon. “She has to be seduced by value.”
The June results, based on revenue at stores opened at least a year, are considered an indicator of a retailer’s health. Only a small group of chain stores report monthly sales figures, but the data are a snapshot of consumer spending, which accounts for 70 percent of all economic activity.
The figures have shown an uneven recovery. Discounters and high-end stores, for example, notched stronger growth last month.
But for most, sales were disappointing. Big chains like Costco, Kohl’s and Macy’s, as well as teen retailer The Wet Seal, were among stores whose results fell short of market expectations.
Worries about jobs sent shoppers’ confidence down in June for the fourth straight month as employers have pulled back their hiring.
