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Consumers are feeling financial pressure, making them more picky about what they buy. Big retailers, like Walmart and Home Depot, are refining their sales pitches to appeal to shoppers.

US consumers are planning to cut back on spending: The proportion of consumers planning to spend more on restaurants, bars, and take out over the next 6 months fell -2 percentage points in August, to ~24.5%, the 2nd-lowest since September 2025. US consumers expecting to spend more on health care services fell -3 percentage points in August, to ~19.5%, the lowest since September 2025. This also marks the steepest monthly decline among the top 5 categories tracked by the Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Survey. At the same time, just ~21.5% of consumers now expect to spend more on beauty and personal care, down -1 percentage point from July and the lowest level since November 2025. Furthermore, ~22.0% of consumers expect to spend more on streaming, internet, and mobile services, down -1 percentage point from the prior month, the 2nd-lowest since November 2025. Consumers are pulling back on spending plans.

Prices consumers pay for a variety of goods and services rose slightly in July, according to the Federal Reserve’s main inflation gauge. The personal consumption expenditures price index, which the Fed uses as its preferred forecasting tool, increased a seasonally adjusted 0.2% for the month, putting the annual inflation rate at 3.7%, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. Both were 0.1 percentage point above the Dow Jones consensus. More details:

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US consumers are pulling back on spending: US retail sales dropped -0.6% in July, the largest monthly decrease since May 2025, missing expectations of a +0.1% increase. The biggest drop came from non-store retailers, including Amazon, $AMZN, where sales fell -2.2%, the 2nd-largest decline since July 2021. At the same time, motor vehicle and parts dealer sales fell -1.8%. As a result, retail sales excluding auto fell -0.3%, below the expected +0.2% increase. Meanwhile, control-group sales, which feed into the GDP calculation, plunged -0.4%, the largest monthly decline since January 2025. The measure excludes food services, auto dealers, building materials stores, and gas stations. Americans are becoming more cautious with their spending.