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Credit Cards, Tax Refunds Fuel May Retail Sales
Key takeaways
- IRL spending at apparel and accessories specialty stores rose 5.7 percent from a year earlier in May, increasing to $26.8 billion, according to the Census Bureau’s monthly retail sales report, released Wednesday.
- Falling Gas Prices Could Help Inflation-pressured Consumers
- Mixed Q2 Earnings Likely While Headwinds Could Impact Q3
Credit Cards, Tax Refunds Fuel May Retail Sales WWD · Nomad_Soul/Adobe Stock Evan Clark Wed, June 17, 2026 at 11:45 PM GMT+7 2 min read Consumers are turning to credit cards, their tax refunds and scrounging for coins under the couch cushions, but they still hit the stores and spent online last month even as high prices at the gas pump took their toll.
IRL spending at apparel and accessories specialty stores rose 5.7 percent from a year earlier in May, increasing to $26.8 billion, according to the Census Bureau’s monthly retail sales report, released Wednesday. The much smaller department store sector saw in-store sales increase 1.9 percent to $3.3 billion.
Falling Gas Prices Could Help Inflation-pressured Consumers
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