U.S. consumers may be strapped with record debt levels, but that burden has yet to make much of an impact on spending. Retail sales rose +0.7% in July, well above the median forecast of +0.4%, while the previous month increase was revised upward from +0.2% to +0.3%.

When the volatile auto and gasoline categories are excluded, sales rose +1.0%, topping the +0.4% forecast. The retail sales “control group,” which excludes autos, gas, building materials and food services (and feeds directly into the quarterly GDP calculation) also rose +1.0%, doubling the median forecast.

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